Not As It Seems
by TheDroidsYoureLookingFor
Summary: Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience, a still, small voice says to us- 'Something is out of tune.' Himuro/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I only own the OC.**

Tatsuya Himuro was the guy everyone wanted to be friends with. His status as the new transfer student made him very popular, he was good-looking and athletic enough to catch the attention of the female population, and he was charismatic enough to garner the likings of both students and teachers alike. He was charming, yet somehow mysterious, and that only served to add to his allure. Naturally- being a new student- Tatsuya tried to maintain a good image in the eyes of his peers and educators, in the hopes of acclimating himself with the new environment he was in. Attention was something he definitely recieved often, but not something he was too keen on giving out on his own.

So it honestly surprised him when one particular student caught his eye.

It started during basketball practice. Himuro and his teammates were taking a break from their strenuous activities, and he was simply chugging down a bottle of water when he saw her sitting way at the back of the stands in the basketball court. With her average height and neatly tied-up hair, she wasn't really anything out of the ordinary. What caught his attention later on, however, was the fact that she showed up every time during basketball practice without fail, occasionally flipping through a book in her lap whenever the team wasn't doing anything particularly interesting. However, Himuro couldn't help but notice that every time he glanced up at her during one of the team's practice matches, she would almost always be watching one person in particular- Atsushi Murasakibara; the team's centre, and arguably one of Himuro's closest companions in school.

When Himuro asked his coach- Masako Araki- about the presence of the girl, she'd simply shrugged it off and replied vaguely.

"She just watches us play. As long as she doesn't interfere with practice, I don't care what she does."

That had been enough to satiate Himuro's curiosity back when he first noticed her. But after a whole month of the same thing happening every week Himuro finally decided to do something about his increasing curiosity regarding the peculiar brunette. So, halfway through the usual break from practice one day, he approached her.

"Hey," Himuro called out, gaining the attention of the brunette as he walked up the stairs leading up to the stands. The girl started at his call and looked up from her book, while Himuro gave a small half-smile as he came up to her. He normally wore a more passive expression, but figured that he might as well try to make himself seem a bit more approachable when dealing with someone he wanted to converse with. "Sorry to interrupt you- I was just wondering if there's something I could help you with?"

"No, thank you." She responded simply, turning her gaze back towards the court.

"Oh. Okay." Himuro blinked, thrown somewhat off-guard. He definitely hadn't expected such a brief answer. "Is there someone you're looking for?"

"No. I'm fine." The girl replied again, not allowing much room for Himuro to start a conversation.

"Any particular reason you're up here?" Himuro persisted, though he was growing a bit impatient with the girl's short answers towards his attempts at being friendly.

"I just want to watch you all play basketball." The brunette replied again.

"Oh. Are you interested in the sport, yourself?" Himuro inquired.

"I suppose you could say that."

"What do you mean?"

"I just want to see how you all play."

"Is there a reason you keep giving me such vague answers?" Himuro asked, almost exasperatedly. Upon realizing how rude that sounded- despite his own impatience- he quickly apologized. "I'm sorry- I just hope you don't think I'm rude or anything..."

"No, you're not rude. I'm sorry for being so stand-offish." The girl sighed, before straightening up and finally meeting Himuro's eye. "I just wonder why you would suddenly speak to me."

"I'm a bit curious as to why you're up here." Himuro responded, wearing that small half-smile again in the hopes of lightening the atmosphere once more. "You're always here whenever we practice, and I just thought it was a bit peculiar."

"I see." The girl responded, turning her gaze back to the rest of the basketball team members, who were still resting. Once again, Himuro noted that she was watching Murasakibara in particular- up close, he could also see that there was another emotion barely concealed beneath the passivity of those blue eyes.

"So, what brings you up here every time?" Himuro prodded, leaning back against the wall.

"...I'm just trying to understand." She responded quietly.

"Hm?" Himuro tilted his head, prompting her to elaborate. The fact that he'd actually gotten an answer that wasn't a brief, commonplace sentence from the seemingly quiet girl was enough to catch his attention.

"What did he see in this sport..."

"Himuro!" The voice of Coach Araki barked, cutting the girl off before she could finish her sentence. Himuro looked back at the court to see the coach shooting him a pointed look. "Break's over- back to practice!"

"Alright, coach!" Himuro called back, pushing himself up from his previously slumped position against the wall. However, he glanced back at the brunette next to him, silently asking her to continue her sentence.

"You'd best go." She responded, turning back towards the court and returning to her usual silence. Apparently, she wasn't inclined to answer the question just yet, and Himuro's brow furrowed slightly in frustration- this girl was a real puzzle. Deciding that the conversation had officially ended- and that he'd better not test Coach Araki's patience, lest she go after him as well as the brunette girl for interrupting training, which was the only reason the coach had tolerated her presence- Himuro turned around to head down the stairs. However, he paused as he suddenly realized something very important.

"Wait, what's your name?" He asked, glancing back at the brunette.

"...Mikoto Shirato." She replied, turning her blue-eyed gaze towards him again.

"I'm Tatsuya Himuro." The raven-haired boy replied, shooting Mikoto a slightly more sincere smile compared to his previous ones. "Will you be here next practice?"

"...Yeah." Mikoto responded cautiously.

"Right. I'll talk to you then." He replied in a more friendly manner- a vague attempt to lower her guard before he continued walking down the stairs and onto the court. The girl's- Shirato's- reaction was actually quite new to him, since most people (girls in particular) normally trusted him easily. To have someone so cautious of him was different for the raven-haired boy, but he found the change of pace somewhat... intriguing.

"Himuro! Move it!" Coach Araki ordered again, this time more threateningly. "Five laps around the gym- all of you, go!"

"Got it!" "Yes, Coach!" Came the responses of all the basketball team's members, and they all didn't hesitate to begin their laps. They had all been victims of Coach Araki's wrath before- the shinai she sometimes carried around wasn't just for show- and weren't particularly eager to experience it again.

"Hey, Muro-chin." Murasakibara called out lazily as Himuro fell into step next to him as they ran. "What took you so long?"

"Just made a new friend." Himuro replied simply, not really bothering to go into detail- it wasn't like Murasakibara would really bother listening if he had, anyway.

"Another admirer?" Kenichi Okamura- the basketball team's captain- exclaimed whiningly. Despite his large size and rough features, he was actually almost too easily affected by things- especially when it came to his unpopularity among those of the opposite gender. "It's not fair- Himuro always gets the girls!"

"It's not that sort of relationship..." Himuro responded, sweatdropping slightly at the team captain's assumption. Okamura was a great basketball player, but Himuro personally thought the captain needed to assert himself a bit more sometimes.

"'Course not. This is Shirato we're talking about. " Came the snide voice of Kensuke Fukui. The senior was quick-witted and sharp- a dangerous combination that made him quite the verbal attacker.

"Do you know her?" Himuro inquired curiously.

"She's been hanging around here since her first year." Fukui shrugged. "I don't think I've seen Shirato talk to anyone for more than 10 seconds."

"Shirato isn't a complete introvert, Fukui." Wei Liu- the team's small forward, and the second tallest member of the team next to Murasakibara- added his input.

"You defending her now, Liu?" Fukui inquired, raising a skeptical- somewhat surprised- eyebrow. It wasn't often that the Chinese exchange student commented on anything- he wasn't exactly the most sociable individual.

"She is my lab partner. She does her side of the work efficiently enough." Liu responded simply.

"That would be the only reason you'd defend her..." Fukui sighed. Liu only granted his acknowledgement upon someone if they proved their worth.

"Hey, Muro-chin- do you have any snacks? I'm still hungry..." Murasakibara drawled, evidently not interested in the topic- as always. Most of the time, the only thing that really seemed to catch his interest was food.

"Hey!" Coach Araki yelled, scowling at the sight of her students slowing down as they conversed idly, not taking the practice as seriously as she'd have liked them to. "Stop yapping and keep running!"

"Yes ma'am!" They all responded quickly, the topic they had been discussing immediately forgotten like it had never even started in the first place.

As Himuro completed his first lap, he spared a brief glance back at the stands again. For once, Mikoto Shirato's eyes were following him carefully, a curious expression on her face.

'Interesting, indeed...'

* * *

Later that night, Mikoto Shirato sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the phone in her hands as her thumb hesitantly hovered over the 'call' button. She already had the contact on the screen, so all she had to do was press a button...

Taking a deep breath, Mikoto finally pushed down the 'call' option, and she twisted a strand of her hair around her finger as she held her phone to her ear. The line was ringing, but no one was picking it up yet. Even so, Mikoto prayed silently that this time the person she was trying to call would finally answer- it had been several months since she'd last spoken to him...

"The person you are calling is not available." Came the prerecorded voice that would redirect her to voice mail. "Please leave a message after the tone."

A beep. Mikoto gave a small, almost bitter sigh. She'd been through this routine every single time she'd tried calling him, and she always left a voice message at the end of it all. But not even once had she gotten a single reply from him. Even so, she would try again anyway...

"Hey," Mikoto greeted, trying to sound nonchalant. She didn't quite want to sound too desperate- even if she really wanted to speak with the person on the other end of the line. "It's me. Just wanted to let you know that I'm still here, and all."

No response. Normally, Mikoto would have hung up by now and just hoped for a response, but today... she decided to try and push a bit more- just to try and get him to listen.

"...I know you're having a rough time." She continued quietly, her grip on the phone tightening slightly. "But I'd like to hear from you every now and then. So please- just call me back... It's lonely."

Still nothing. Mikoto didn't know why she even bothered.

Just as she had given up any hope of getting an answer and was about to hang up, there was a sudden clicking sound on the other end. A male voice suddenly spoke from the other end- a voice she hadn't heard in a long time.

"Wait, Mikoto."

Mikoto froze up in surprise, her blue eyes widening in disbelief.

And then- for the first time in a long while- Mikoto smiled.

"It's about time you picked up... you big jerk."

* * *

AN: Hey guys- Droids here! I suppose this new fic that suddenly came out of nowhere must be a surprise to those of ya'll who are following GATG now, but the idea for this story just got to me and I couldn't resist the urge to write at least one chapter. I cannot run from the Kurobasu fanbase... or my adoration for Himuro 8'D

But anyway... This chapter was sort of a test drive- to see if I could catch the characterization of the characters properly, and also to try my hand at something different from what I'm used to. I won't officially start focusing on this fic just yet (at the very least, not until I've finished GATG), however I will post occasional updates whenever I finish any. I'd very much like to hear from ya'll readers if I got the characterizations okay so far! I know it's still a little too soon to tell, but do tell me if you think there's anything I need to work on- I would like to be able to write this fic to the best of my abilities. And yes, the person Mikoto was talking to is indeed a canon character. As for who it was... well, ya'll are gonna have to wait and find out, eh?

But until then- cheers, guys! Thanks for dropping by!

~Droids


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I only own the OC.**

"You came back." Himuro greeted pleasantly as he made his way up to the stands, toting his water bottle with him. It was time for the team's usual 10 minute break from practice, and Himuro was glad for the time to rest as he sat next to the Shirato girl, who was as silent as always. He made sure to keep a relative distance from her, since he wasn't quite sure of her boundaries with physical contact. That, and also because getting too close probably wouldn't be the best thing to do when he was drenched in sweat- which he had to admit was rather repulsive.

"I'm always here." Mikoto responded, though she still remained somewhat cautious of the boy approaching her. She still didn't understand why he would suddenly try and talk to her, and it was confusing. Himuro had said that he was simply curious as to why she was here, but she highly doubted it was something so simple- even if he had been telling the truth, simple curiosity would have been satiated with the answers she'd given yesterday. No- Himuro's curiosity ran far deeper than that, and it made her apprehensive. His ability to wear that poker face so well didn't let reveal any of his intentions, either...

But of course, two could play at that game.

"Still, I was worried I might have scared you off after last time." Himuro responded, wearing a small smile in the hopes of getting the girl to relax. He really didn't have any ill intentions- he simply wanted to make himself approachable. Of course, he was still curious about her own motives as well, but that could be easily dealt with if he got to know her better.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't doing this partially because he felt somewhat challenged, though. His natural charm normally had people befriending and trusting him within a short span of time despite his somewhat passive aura, but Shirato was different- she seemed practically immune to his charisma. It was the main reason he kept trying to approach her- she just seemed like a very interesting puzzle.

"It would take a lot more than that to get rid of me." Mikoto replied.

"Thankfully." Himuro responded good-naturedly before he brought his bottle to his lips, taking a few gulps of water. After a few beats of silence, Himuro finally turned back to Mikoto, an inquisitive look in his eyes. "About the question I asked yesterday..."

"I'm simply doing a bit of observational research." Mikoto responded quickly- almost too quickly, Himuro noted.

"How so?" He asked.

"Observing the ethics and technique behind basketball." Mikoto replied, her expression not betraying anything. "It's interesting to see the way players interact on the court."

"You've been doing research for more than a month?" Himuro asked skeptically. The way she put it forth was rather believeable- he would have to give her credit for that, she seemed like a very smooth liar- but it didn't add up to her slip of the tongue yesterday. She'd mentioned a 'he'... could she have been referring to Murasakibara?

"I just like watching you guys play." Mikoto responded vaguely.

"Hm..." Before Himuro could continue the conversation, however, a voice interrupted him.

"Hey, Muro-chin."

"Ah, Atsushi." Himuro responded good-naturedly, glancing up at the giant first-year standing before him. Atsushi Murasakibara was the basketball team's center, and his huge stature made him practically impassable on the court- making him very efficient in his role. Together with Himuro, the two of them were considered the strongest of Yosen's team- even better than their seniors.

"You told me you were going to bring me a snack today." Murasakibara drawled, munching on an umaibo- he must have opened it earlier, and the coach was shooting him a ticked off look that clearly indicated that she didn't approve of Murasakibara's eating habits. But then again, she'd already learned that there was really nothing anyone could do to stop him, since taking away that privilege from him would lead to a very unmotivated center during training.

"Don't worry, I brought them." Himuro reassured. He then glanced back at Mikoto, who was tilting her head back pretty far just to catch a glimpse of Murasakibara's face. "Atsushi is very fond of food." He elaborated.

"I can tell." Mikoto muttered. She just stared at the purple-haired giant of Yosen's basketball team, almost feeling vertigo from looking up at the tall boy. She wasn't very tall herself- only standing at about 5'4- and comparing herself to Murasakibara was like comparing a rabbit to an elephant.

"Hn? Muro-chin, is this your girlfriend?" Murasakibara tilted his head curiously, shifting his gaze to the Shirato girl, who tensed up upon catching his eye.

"She's not my girlfriend." Himuro explained patiently. "We're just talking."

"Hm..." Murasakibara mused, still crunching on his umaibo.

And then he suddely leaned half his body forth- until he was almost face-to-face with Mikoto. The girl flinched backwards instinctively, but Murasakibara just continued staring blandly back at her, speaking in an almost lazy drawl. "Muro-chin's not-girlfriend looks very familiar."

"I'm afraid we haven't really met before this, Murasakibara-kun." Mikoto responded, trying very hard not to let her neutral expression falter. She couldn't help but feel intimidated by the boy's large size- how did anyone even grow that big, anyway?

"Really?" Murasakibara hummed, pointing at Mikoto's face almost accusingly. "But I've seen your eyes before... it annoys me."

"Really, Atsushi- there's no need to scare her like that." Himuro interjected lightly upon seeing Mikoto growing even more defensive at Murasakibara's comment- he could practically see her hackles rising. "You've probably just seen her around school."

"Maybe." Murasakibara responded, though he continued scrutinizing Mikoto from beneatg his half-lidded eyes. The brunette cringed slightly under his violet gaze- despite how apathetic he seemed, Mikoto didn't doubt for a moment that he wouldn't be able to crush her if he felt like it. His previous comment about his annoyance didn't help alleviate her worries, either, and it was almost physically painful for her to meet his gaze without backing down. She was terribly awkward with receiving attention from people she wasn't familiar with...

However, despite her silent demeanour, Mikoto also had a stubborn side to her. Which was the main reason why she hadn't backed down from Murasakibara's stare to bury herself in the ground and die, no matter how much her instincts were screaming at her to.

"The gummy bears in my bagpack- it's on the bench in the locker rooms. You can have them now if you want." Tatsuya suddenly commented, successfully diverting Murasakibara's attention from Mikoto. The girl wanted to give almost gave a sigh of relief when the boy's violet eyes suddenly left hers, but she forced herself to remain still.

"Mm. Okay." Murasakibara responded, before standing back up at his full height and immediately heading towards the locker rooms, where the team members usually placed their belongings- his previous intentions all forgotten. Once he was gone, Himuro shot Mikoto a somewhat apologetic glance.

"I hope that didn't make you feel too uncomfortable- Atsushi can be a little bit unnerving to those who aren't used to him." He explained.

"No. It's alright." Mikoto replied, though she had to admit to herself that she suddenly felt a lot less tense after Murasakibara had left. She owed Himuro for noticing her discomfort and averting Murasakibara's attention elsewhere- quite an observant and subtly manipulative nature belied Himuro's calm disposition.

Mikoto made a small mental note to never make an enemy of Tatsuya Himuro- he would be quite a dangerous foe to have.

"Do you know Atsushi personally, by any chance?" Himuro asked, watching the girl's reaction carefully. His observations had proven that for some reason or other, Mikoto seemed to have a very keen interest in Atsushi. It made him curious- especially if what she said was true, and that was that she had never officially met Murasakibara before this.

"...I was his senior back in middle school as well." Mikoto admitted slowly. "But we've never actually talked."

"I see." Himuro nodded. "You seem to recognize him rather well, though."

"With that kind of height, I'd be blind to miss it." Mikoto muttered- for a moment, Himuro thought there was a heavy bit of resentment underlying her tone, but he wasn't quite sure.

"That's also true." Himuro mused. He highly doubted that it was just Murasakibara's height that attracted her attention, though...

"Alright, everyone! Back to practice!" Came the strict voice of Coach Araki, demanding the attentions of those present once more. The woman had quite the presence- Mikoto was personally quite terrified of the teacher, and would never even think about crossing her.

"Haah? I didn't get to eat the snack Muro-chin got for me yet..." Murasakibara complained woefully.

"No complaints." The coach interrupted simply.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around, then." Himuro said as he stood up, shooting Mikoto his trademark half-smile. "It was nice talking to you."

"You too." Mikoto responded politely. Himuro then headed down the stairs, depositing his bottle on a nearby bench before heading towards the court. Just as he did, though, Coach Araki tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to face the coach, whose expression was as serious as ever.

"Remember, Himuro- I allowed her to stay because she didn't interfere with practice." Coach Araki said simply, not needing to elaborate who 'she' was. "But if she starts to distract you, I will have to do something about it."

"Don't worry about that, Coach." Himuro responded politely, though he felt a bit irked that the coach was treating him like some sort of child. "That's not going to happen during practice."

"Hm. At least she doesn't seem like one of your admirers." Coach Araki commented idly, returning her gaze to the clipboard in her hands.

"If you ask me, Coach, I think she's more interested in Atsushi than anyone else." Himuro responded.

"So you noticed." The dark-haired coach raised a brow at Himuro. "I'd rather not be forced to kick her out of the gym, Himuro- as long as you don't lose your focus, we won't have a problem." The coach then tilted her head towards where the rest of the team was gathered, indicating for Himuro to join them. "Now get moving."

"Gotcha, coach."

* * *

On the days that the basketball team didn't hold their practices, Mikoto focused her attention and free time after school elsewhere- mostly on either her studies or the gymnastics club. She couldn't quite remember exactly how she got into gymnastics- she just knew that it was fun to do, so she went with it. She never participated in any competitions, but she didn't exactly bother about that- she just did whatever she felt like doing. However, Mikoto's perfectionist nature had a tendency to emerge when it came to gymnastics, as it did with most of the things she did.

Personally, Mikoto really wished it didn't- she got frustrated far too easily. But hey, life just sucked like that.

The Shirato girl shook her hands out as she fixed her eyes on the lower of the two uneven parallel bars. She'd covered her grips in chalk again for the who-knows-how-many-eth time today, running through the routine over and over again. All she needed now was to go through the whole thing without a mistake...

Leaping up to grab the low bar, Mikoto used her momentum to swing herself into a kip, before transferring to a handstand. She followed it up with a glide kip, and then a squat to a stand on the low bar. Her body moved automatically- the routine drilled into her head. A leap to the high bar, a swing, and then, she came back in a blind back-straddle over the low bar- that part was the trickiest for her, and Mikoto gave a small exhale of relief when she got it right.

That was followed by another leap to the high bar. The girl pushed herself into a long hanging kip, and then casted to a full handstand on top of the high bar and did a pirouette. Now, for the finish. Mikoto grit her teeth as she swung around in two big swings and pushed off into a flyaway dismount, before landing perfectly on her feet without the slightest stumble.

'Good'. Mikoto smiled in satisfaction. After working non-stop on that routine, finally being able to run through it without messing up felt like quite the accomplishment. It wasn't the most complicated routine- especially that finish- but now that she'd gotten it down, she could add a few more moves to it.

"Hey, Shirato-chan." The captain of the gymnastics team, Hinata Matsuki called out, gaining her attention. The blonde captain raised her hands into a 'T' sign, giving Mikoto a strict look. "Take 5- you've been going at it for a long time. Don't overdo it."

"Right, Matsuki-chan." Mikoto nodded in affirmation, her breathing somewhat laboured as she heeded the order from her captain without hesitation. She hadn't taken a break since the beginning of practice, and could feel her muscles beginning to ache from all that strain. She'd lost track of time, and if not for Matsuki's heads-up, she probably would have strained herself even more.

Matsuki was quite a nice person- Mikoto could daresay she considered the blonde as more of a friend than a simple acquaintance- but she took her role as captain very seriously. She looked out for each member of the team and their wellbeing, and was determined to make sure no one overworked themselves or got injured if they could help it on her watch.

Plopping herself down on the first row of stands at the side of the court, Mikoto leaned back against the row behind her and shut her eyes, trying to catch her breath- yep, she was definitely glad that Matsuki had interrupted her when she had. She felt completely wiped out.

'So tired...'

"Practice rough on you?" Came a smooth male voice- one that Mikoto was starting to grow acquainted with. She opened her eyes and turned towards the source, her gaze meeting that of a familiar raven-haired teen's, whose left eye was covered by his long bangs.

She didn't know what her classmates and other girls saw in that sort of look that made him so appealing to them- even looking at those bangs covering so much of his face made her hand twitch. She was very particular about neatness- especially when it came to hair. All she wanted to do was staple his hair to the base of his skull if it would keep it from looking so messy... even more so for that giant purple-haired friend of his.

"Himuro-kun." Mikoto greeted calmly, resisting the urge to just sit him down and forcefully brush back those bangs. She didn't really question his presence here- Himuro was probably one of the guys who was helping to carry in the boxes of water for the gymnastics team today. It was a normal thing- a random bunch of guys would be entrusted to the task every time. Since Yosen's gymnastics club only consisted of girls, some guys were all too eager to help out and get their attention.

Though in certain cases- such as in the case of the boy standing before her- it was the girls who asked the guys to help them out simply because they wanted an excuse to chat up to them. It wasn't a technique Mikoto particularly approved of or would have used herself, but if it got her the drink she wanted, then whatever.

"You look beat." Himuro commented lightly, before passing her a bottle of water from the medium-sized box he was carrying. "Here- you probably want this."

"Ah, thanks." Mikoto thanked as she accepted the bottle, twisting open the cap and downing several gulps of the water in one go. She supposed it wasn't the most ladylike thing to do, but she was far too thirsty to care at the moment.

Plus, Himuro was probably going to try and talk to her, so maybe this would put him off.

"I didn't know you were in the gymnastics club." Himuro commented as Mikoto lowered her bottle, exhaling in relief as the cool liquid subdued some of her exhaustion.

Well, she tried.

"It's just a pastime." Mikoto responded plainly.

"But you're pretty good at it."

"Not really. I'm just average."

"It's better than what I'd be capable of." Himuro shrugged, that half-smile gracing his lips. "You gymnasts make it look easy, though."

"It's quite tiring, actually." Mikoto replied.

"I can tell that you enjoy it, though." Himuro said, nodding his head in the direction of the parallel bars. "Back there when you landed- that was the first time I've seen you smile."

"You were watching?" Mikoto asked, faintly surprised. She hadn't noticed that she was being watched as she ran through her routine- she had been too caught up in it too look around.

"Yeah." Himuro said nonchalantly. The expression in his visible eye became a bit more teasing as he continued. "You ever consider doing that more often?"

"What, I'm not already charming enough?" Mikoto muttered. Her response made Himuro pause briefly in surprise- was that... sarcasm?

"Yo, Himuro!" Fukui suddenly called out, gaining his attention. The senior was making his way towards him, that usual bland expression on his face. "We need more bottles over there- go help em out."

"Right." Himuro nodded, before glancing at Mikoto again- it looked like he'd have to figure that our later. "I'll talk to you later, Shirato-chan."

"Right." Mikoto raised a hand in farewell, and Himuro made his way towards the other gymnasts who were waiting for their refreshments. As soon as he was out of earshot, Fukui raised a brow at Mikoto.

"I see you've made a new friend, Shirato." He commented, more out of boredom than anything else. He'd already emptied the box of water bottles he'd been distributing, so he figured that he might as well.

"I do have a social life, Fukui-senpai." Mikoto replied. When it came to Fukui, she was a bit more snappish- though she hadn't talked much with him, he was well renowned for his sharp tongue. She wasn't particularly eager to let herself be a victim of his witty comments.

"A microscopic one, yeah."

"Your faith in me is most inspiring."

"Well, someone's feeling sassy today." Fukui commented blandly, though his expression remained monotonous. Mikoto would be lying if she said she didn't feel like smacking her snarky acquaintance upside his head sometimes. "Hurry up and finish your water, Shirato."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Mikoto sighed, finishing the last of her water in several gulps. She didn't really want to drag out a verbal debate with Fukui anyway. Crushing the plastic bottle in her hand, she crumpled it into a wad, heading towards the trash can at the end of the gym to get rid of it. Just as she was a couple of feet away from the bin, however, she paused as an idea came to her. The girl looked around- making sure no one was watching- and then slowly lifted the hand holding the plastic wad, hesitating as she estimated the distance between herself and the bin. Once she did, she threw the crushed bottle, hoping to land it inside the bin...

Nope. Bounced off the rim. That was embarrassing.

Sighing as she walked forth to pick up the fallen plastic to manually toss it into the bin, Mikoto couldn't help but let a dry smirk cross her face as a memory resurfaced for her...

* * *

_"Miko, you suck at this game." The eleven year-old boy criticized bluntly as the basketball Mikoto had attempted to shoot into the basket bounced off the rim... for the fifteenth time in a row. The twelve year-old Mikoto just scowled as she turned back to her companion, who at the time was shorter than she was._

_"Well if you're so great, why don't you do it then?" Mikoto challenged, pointing at the basketball that had rolled off to the side of the empty playground basketball court._

_The boy didn't even blink at the challenge. Instead, he fetched the stray basketball, striding back towards the three-pointer line where Mikoto was standing. Raising the basketball and falling into the usual shooting position, he jumped up slightly as he threw the ball. It soared through the air in a long arc... and landed straight into the basket. The boy just turned back towards Mikoto, raising an eyebrow._

_"...Don't even say it." Mikoto mumbled sulkily, her eyes glued to the floor on embarrassment._

_He just grinned cheekily back at her_.

* * *

Mikoto felt her mood drop at the memory, and gave small "tch" of annoyance. She headed back towards the balance beam, wanting to just run through a couple of basic routines to focus her attention elsewhere. As she hoisted herself onto the beam, she couldn't help but notice that most of the gymnasts had left their practice, and were currently gathering around the boys who had helped to bring in the refreshments. Good; that meant that she didn't have to worry about having any eyes on her.

The girl turned balanced herself on her feet as she stood on the beam, tuning everything out as she went on autopilot. Three cartwheels down the length of the beam, a spin, and then a walkover- she lost herself as she went through the routine. She forgot about mysterious Himuro, sarcastic Fukui, the gushing club members... but most of all, she forgot about the person she had spoken to the other night- the same one she'd remembered earlier. It was like he didn't even exist.

And if he didn't exist, then she didn't have to worry about never reaching him.

...

Amidst all the people he was surrounded by, Himuro shot a glance at the brunette cartwheeling on the balance beam, who wore a carefully blank look on her face as she went through her movements. And Himuro found himself wondering- not for the first time- just what was running through Shirato's mind.

* * *

Blue eyes stared out the windows of the the moving train, watching the scenery of the city zoom past as the train continued along its path. It was evening, and the sky was cast into various shades of red and orange as Mikoto made her way back home from school. She wasn't really focusing on anything in particular as she sat in the moving train, wondering if she should help to man the cashier at the mini market her dad owned today- it wasn't like she had much schoolwork anyway...

A ringing from her cellphone broke her quiet musings, and Mikoto reached into her pocket to take out the device. She took a moment to identify the name on the caller ID screen, and when she did, her eyes widened slightly in surprise. However, the surprise in her expression quickly turned to happiness as she gave a smile, pressing on the 'answer' button.

"I think I've got a pretty good idea as to why you've called." Mikoto said as she answered the phone, a playful tone in her voice. When she got a response, her smile grew a bit wider. "I don't blame you for being surprised- I guess my persistence paid off." Another pause, and then Mikoto gave a short bark of laughter at the reply she got. "He called me that? What an ass!"

On Mikoto's side of the line, there was a brief silence as the person she was speaking to asked a question.

"Yep. Murasakibara-kun is attending my school. His skills are getting better, too. He doesn't seem to remember me all that well, though- not that I expected him to." Mikoto mused as she answered. "I'm actually surprised they haven't kicked me out of the gym yet. Guess my social awkwardness pays off sometimes."

Mikoto paused for a minute, a sudden thought occurring to her. Her expression solemned, and she continued in a quieter voice.

"You know, I never got to apologize for moving and having to leave everything to you. I'm sorry I can't help with-"

Mikoto was cut off as her friend on the other end of the line immediately interrupted her, her reprimanding voice making Mikoto cringe sheepishly. She scratched her cheek awkwardly as her friend continued to berate her over the phone for her pessimistic thoughts, waiting until she finally finished venting her frustrations- if there was one thing Mikoto learned in life, it was that you never interrupted a woman when she ranted. So instead, she sighed and leaned back in her seat, waiting for her friend to finish before she continued the conversation in a lighter tone.

"Yeah, I got it. But enough about that- it's been a while, Satsuki-chan. How're you doing?"

* * *

AN: I can't believe there are already favs and follows for this fic. Like, wow- only one chapter yo, and I personally didn't think it was really all that great... thanks for the support, guys! Also, I hope the difference in the way Mikoto interacts with different people isn't too irregular- I was hoping to convey the point that she is less guarded around people she is more familiar with. I don't know when the next chappy will come along, either, but hopefully this will be enough to satisfy you guys for a bit longer! It was really cuz of you guys that I got off my lazy arse and finished the draft for this chapter- I sorta owed it to you all, given how short the last one was xD

Do let me know if anything seemed too OOC or peculiar to you guys- this is sort of new for me, so I would like to work on my ability to write it properly! Critiques are welcome!

Many thanks to Crescent Shadow for reviewing as well as favouriting and following this fic, Xxdreamergirl95xX for adding both my profile and this fic to your alerts and favourites, TheEccentric1 for favouriting this fic and my profile, Unoriginal3 and Lumihiutale89 for favouriting this story, and finally Yuuki-Hime 2097, animesrule9, Doll with no brain, Flefleflo, loliconkawaii Xx1DaY4dReAmEr3xX and via26 for following this fic! You guys are too kind!


	3. Chapter 3

**isclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I only own the OC.**

The library of Yosen High was actually one of Mikoto's favourite places in the school. The school library was actually very well-stocked when it came to reading material, much to Mikoto's enjoyment. There were only two things she disliked about the place:

1. Mrs Akira, the extremely strict librarian who wouldn't let students utter so much as a peep above what she deemed as the 'appropriate volume' without shushing them viciously.

2. The ridiculously tall bookshelves which were a nightmare to any student below 6ft in height.

Not being the tallest individual, Mikoto struggled to even have the tips of her fingers brush the bottom of the books on the tallest shelves- and that was when she stood on her tiptoes. While Mikoto appreciated the variety and quantity of books in the school library, she still cursed whoever it was that got the idea to get bookshelves this high.

The Shirato girl huffed quietly to herself as she pushed up the reading glasses she was wearing on the bridge of her nose. It would be just her luck that the book she wanted was on the highest shelf. From where she was standing in the aisle, she glanced around, looking for the two stepping stools normally used for reaching the higher shelves. One was in use, and the other was out of sight- possibly being used in the back, as usual. That was another thing Mikoto detested about the school library- the least they could do was provide more stepping stools for the students. As if torturing them with skyscraper-esque bookshelves wasn't enough...

"Well, screw you too, genetics." Mikoto muttered to herself under her breath.

"You're not as demure as you look, are you?"

Mikoto nearly jumped at the voice that suddenly came out of seemingly nowhere, freezing up immediately. It took her a moment to register what had just been said- which made her flush in embarrassment at being caught- as well as to recognize the owner of the voice.

"H-Himuro-kun." Mikoto cleared her throat, inwardly cursing herself for stuttering as she turned towards the raven-haired boy. She reached up to adjust her glasses- a subtle attempt to hide her flushed face. "Are you stalking me?"

"Not at all, actually. I'm supposed to be getting a book for a Literature assignment." Himuro replied, trying very hard to restrain the amused smirk that threatened to break his poker face. "Do you need a hand?"

"No. That's alright." Mikoto replied shortly, turning back towards the bookshelf. She picked out a random book from a lower shelf and opened it- trying to make herself look busy.

"I didn't know you needed reading glasses." Himuro commented, gesturing to the half-rimmed frames she was wearing.

"We only just met, Himuro-kun. There are plenty of things you wouldn't know about me." Mikoto responded, not even bothering to look up from the book- she wasn't actually reading it, just pretending to skim through it.

"In that ca-" A loud 'shhhh' sound cut Himuro off before he could continue that sentence- Mrs Akira was shooting him a dirty look from the counter near the entrance, clearly wanting him to keep it down. Himuro shot the librarian an apologetic smile- not that he really meant it, though. He wasn't even speaking all that loudly; Mrs Akira was just being her usual cranky self.

"In that case, we should try to know each other better. We're friends, after all- right?" Himuro asked, lowering his voice even more to avoid attracting attention again.

"May I ask just why you've taken such an interest in me?" Mikoto asked, her tone close to exasperated. She just wanted to grab that Calculus book on the top shelf and leave, yet here Himuro was trying to chum up to her- what was with that question, anyway? It had been two weeks since their first encounter, and he was still as complex as ever. How was she supposed to befriend someone she could barely trust? Not to mention that she still didn't know why he was so persistent...

"You just seem like a very interesting person, Shirato-chan." Himuro responded casually. He was getting a bit frustrated that he still hadn't made much progress with Shirato- he'd never met anyone who was as evasive as she was of him, even after his indirect offer of friendship. She seemed to be on even better terms with Wei Liu- Liu, of all people!- than she was with him, and it irked Himuro. He had a certain degree of pride that was constantly challenged by this girl- whether she knew it or not. Anyone else would have given up by now, but Tatsuya Himuro was no quitter- the tougher the challenge, the more he strove to overcome it.

"Sorry to disappoint you, Himuro-kun, but I'm really not." Mikoto responded plainly. Before Himuro could protest, she quickly cut him off again, in a lower voice. "And before you utter that next sentence, Himuro-kun- I would like to point out that Mrs Akira is trying very hard to impale us with that glare of hers, so I would think twice before saying anything more."

Himuro seemed to take this into account, as silence fell over the two once more. Mikoto was pretty sure that she'd successfully thrown him off and ended all form of interaction between them, but instead he was the one who surprised her when he suddenly handed her a book- the exact one she'd been eyeing earlier. Failing to conceal the surprise in her expression, she shot Himuro a curious glance.

"I meant what I said, Shirato-chan." Himuro insisted, somewhat pleased to get a reaction out of the stoic girl. He placed the book in her hands, turning around as he made to head out. Before he did, though...

"By the way, that book you were 'reading' was upside down." Himuro tossed casually over his shoulder. As he walked out of the library and turned to close the door behind him, he shot the Shirato girl a brief glance. She was just staring after him, mouth agape and her face flushed in embarrassment.

Himuro couldn't help himself- his lips twitched upwards slightly into a small smirk.

Score one for him.

* * *

"Hey, Shirato-chan."

Mikoto had to restrain a small sigh when she registered the owner of the voice calling out to her, and she raised her head to see Himuro standing before her, drenched in sweat from practice. The session today had just ended, and she'd thought she had already gone through her fair share of socializing with the raven-haired boy as it was. It wasn't that he wasn't good company- heck, he'd actually proven to be quite the insightful individual- but something about him just had her keeping him at arm's length, not wanting to get close. He seemed nice enough, but there was something about him that reminded her of a certain someone- an arrogance that made her extremely careful around him.

"Himuro-kun. May I help you?" Mikoto responded politely. Even if she was trying to avoid getting close to him, she still knew when to give respect to others when they deserved it.

"Actually, I was just wondering," Himuro began amicably. "You ride the train back home too, right?"

"Yes." Mikoto replied. Where was this going...?

"Ah, that's good." Himuro nodded. "I'm heading towards the station myself- mind if I join you?"

"You want to walk with me to the station?" Mikoto asked in disbelief. After all those careful conversations she'd had with him, he actually wanted to spend more time in her company than he had to?

"Yeah." Himuro shrugged nonchalantly, though the girl's disbelieving tone didn't escape his notice. She probably didn't get much company, he deduced. "Could you wait a minute, though? I have to go grab my things."

"...Do what you want." Mikoto replied after a brief silence, during which she wondered if Himuro had a few screws loose in his head. Honestly, any other person would have gotten the message that she preferred her solitude over his company and backed off by now...

"Thanks. I'll just be a second." Himuro called back as he made his way towards the gym's locker rooms, leaving behind a perplexed Mikoto staring after his retreating back. She just didn't get it- how could he be so much like one of them on the court, and yet... so different when he wasn't?

"...Tch." Mikoto clicked her tongue in frustration, shoving her hands into her skirt pockets- one of the few habits she had picked up from a certain acquaintance of hers. "Whatever."

* * *

"Shirato agreed to your request?" Liu asked as Himuro opened his locker, fishing around for his things within his neat compartment, having changed back into his regular uniform.

"Surprisingly." Himuro admitted, not hiding the fact that he himself hadn't been sure of Mikoto's acceptance to let him join her on her walk back. It was sort of a gamble he had made by asking for her permission, but he figured it would be better than joining her without her compliance- hopefully, this would have her a little less guarded.

"Even Shirato-san agreed to go out Himuro now?" Okamura complained, a distraught expression crossing his face. "How'd you do it?! Not even a normal girl would agree to walk with me..."

"It's simple for him." Fukui deadpanned as he changed out of his basketball jersey and put on his usual summer uniform. "Given that he's far more attractive than you'll ever be."

"That's not helping!" Okamura retorted. Really, one would think that as captain, his teammates would have been a little nicer to him...

"Beyond this senseless rambling, Himuro," Liu commented monotonously, glancing back at Himuro as he ignored his other teammates' rambling. "Just what is your motive for trying to socialize with Shirato?"

Himuro seemed to pause for a moment as he considered Liu's question, before he shrugged. He then put on his usual, mysterious half-smile- an expression that could have brought a thousand different meanings when worn by him.

"It doesn't hurt to try something different."

* * *

'It always sucks to do something different.'

Mikoto gave a long exhale as she thought that, lamenting the break from her usual, monotonous routine. She really had no idea what to say or how to keep a conversation going with others, so walking with Himuro wasn't much different from walking home alone like she normally did- and that was in silence. But hey, maybe now Himuro would realize how pointless his venture to grow acquainted with her was and would leave her alone-

"So, which part of town do you live in?"

Damn. This guy was persistent.

"The residential area behind the Bunkiten mini market." Mikoto responded. "My dad runs the place."

"Oh, that's convenient." Himuro commented. Well, at least he had learned something new about Shirato already- so that meant his efforts weren't a complete waste.

"It is." Mikoto replied. After that, there was another long silence, and Mikoto thought that was the end of all conversation-

"So, how's your research going?"

Ugh.

"It's okay." Mikoto replied neutrally.

"Is it even really research at all?" Himuro asked skeptically. Evidently, he didn't believe her previous excuse for a minute- for good reason, though. It had been sort of a lie on her part...

"Like I've said, I just-"

"Like to watch us play, I know, I know." Himuro finished in her stead, though he gave a light, placating smile at her exasperated look. "Still, your motives are rather questionable. What if you're taking data for an opponent school?"

"Even if I was, it's not like it would help any against the Shield of Aegis." Mikoto muttered, sounding almost contemptuous.

"You sound resentful of that name." Himuro noted, shooting Mikoto a curious glance. They were already at the train stop, and he graciously made way for her to make her payment and go past the turnstile before he proceeded to do the same.

"Any name given to a particular group of players irks me." Mikoto replied evenly.

"What's the basis for that?" Himuro asked. Finally- something that he could make a topic of to learn more about her view on things.

"Other players tend to be ignored." Mikoto answered as she stood on the waiting platform- her train wasn't here yet, so that meant more waiting. How wonderful. "And then there's the issue of arrogance. As far as I'm concerned, such grand titles tend to bring out the worst in a team."

"That's a bit harsh though, don't you think?" Himuro mused. "Not all teams are like that."

"True. But I've had my fair share of bad experience with such teams." Mikoto replied vaguely. That piqued Himuro's interest- so she'd had experience with another basketball team before? And from the sound of it, a good one, too... however, Himuro could tell that she wasn't quite ready to convey more details about that particular fact just yet, so he subtly diverted the topic.

"You should come watch our next match." Himuro commented lightly. "Maybe it'll be good for your research or whatever it is you're doing."

"...That's true." Mikoto agreed thoughtfully. "I'd actually like to see how you fare on the court, Himuro-kun."

"Really?" Himuro raised a brow. He certainly hadn't expected her agreement- let alone for her to express interest in watching him play.

"Yes. Your playing style is... different from what I'm used to seeing." The brunette replied, meeting Himuro's gaze. "It's quite interesting, actually. Very elegant."

"You really think so?" Himuro asked, a small smile gracing his features when Mikoto nodded in affirmation. "Thanks. You'll be cheering me on, right?"

"Perhaps. Though you probably won't hear me over your two thousand fangirls if I did." Mikoto scoffed.

"What?" Himuro started.

"You mean to say you don't notice the cult of females that sing praises to your heavenly looks and gorgeous hair in school almost every day?" Mikoto replied sarcastically, shooting Himuro a disbelieving look.

"You-" Himuro cut himself off as he registered what the girl had said, emitting a short bark of laughter in surprise. When he looked back up at the brunette, his single, visible eye was crinkled slightly as he gave another slight smile- this one more sincere than his previous ones. "So you do have a sense of humour." He accused.

"You say that as if it's a surprise." Mikoto commented, raising an eyebrow.

"Well...you didn't seem the type." Himuro responded, shrugging. The Shirato girl definitely didn't come off as the joking sort, even if some of her previous comments had hinted at such.

"It's not something I particularly like to show off." Mikoto admitted. It was true- she only ever joked around with someone whose company she was comfortable with...

So what did that say about Himuro?

"I like it, though. Makes you seem more approachable." Himuro commented.

"How so?"

"I suppose you could say it makes you less... unreal?" The boy then shook his head as he realized what he'd just said, shooting Mikoto an apologetic glance. "I'm sorry, that must have sounded rude."

"No. It makes sense." Mikoto responded, feeling somewhat wistful at the comment.

"Now you just sound depressing." Himuro tilted his head. "Care to explain?"

"I have trouble socializing on my own." Mikoto elaborated.

"Isn't Liu a friend of yours, though?"

"More of a co-worker. Liu-kun isn't very talkative."

"Neither are you, though."

"Point taken."

"But in all honesty- I think you're actually pretty good company." Himuro said honestly. "Maybe you should try being yourself more often. I think you'd make lots of friends of you did."

"Quality over quantity, Himuro-kun." Mikoto replied, idly adjusting the strap of her bagpack.

"Well, if you don't have a 'quantity' to begin with, how are you gonna find the 'quality'?" Himuro countered, placing his hands in his pockets in a casual manner as he shot the girl an almost challenging look. Mikoto bit her cheek as she took his words into consideration, knowing- reluctantly- that he did have a point.

Darn it. She hated admitting she was wrong. There was only ever one person who had managed irk her that way...

'Miko, you suck at this game.'

"You're a very strange person, Himuro-kun." Mikoto said after a moment of silence, though Himuro could have sworn that there was something different in the Shirato girl's expression this time as she looked back at him.

"So I've been told." Himuro gave another light chuckle in response, before an announcement on the PA system caught his attention. He then turned his head towards the tracks, seeing a familiar train coming to a stop at the platform before he faced Mikoto again. "There's my train- I'll see you around, Shirato-chan."

The girl just nodded in response, and Himuro shot her another small smile as he made his way onto the train. He had to hand it to himself- he'd definitely made some progress today. Perhaps he was getting closer to unravelling the puzzle that was Mikoto Shirato...

"Hey, Himuro-kun."

The sound of Mikoto's voice calling out to him caught his attention just as he stepped onto the train, and he turned around to see Mikoto standing where he'd left her.

"Yeah?" He responded, faintly surprised to have Mikoto calling out to him. It was rare that she ever tried to approach him first...

"I guess you could say we're friends." She said simply, her expression as unchanging as ever.

Himuro blanched.

"What?" He exclaimed, surprise evident on his features in a rare show of emotion.

"I'll see you, Himuro-kun." Mikoto waved as the doors to the train started to close.

"Wha- wait-"

But the doors to the train shut completely and started moving before Himuro could piece together a sentence, cutting off all sound that could be heard from Mikoto's side of the door. As soon as the train was out of sight, Mikoto finally let the smile she had been holding back form on her lips, and raised a hand to her mouth as she emitted a laugh. She'd gotten him good, alright- the look on his face was priceless!

True- she still wasn't any closer to understanding just why Himuro was trying so hard to get her acknowledgement, but the least she could do was give him some positive form of response for all his efforts. However, her trust wasn't something that was easy to earn, and she definitely wasn't trustful of Himuro just yet. Not to mention that there was also that apprehension she held towards him for that trait he had that reminded her so much of a particular team she used to know. She didn't quite know if she wanted to take the risk of befriending someone like him after what she'd gone through the last time...

But even so... maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a chance. It wasn't like she had anything to lose.

* * *

AN: Romance-wise, the plot will be relatively slow- I'd like to keep things somewhat believeable, since they only just met. The slow start is mostly over for now though, so things will be lightening up gradually from here on! And yeahhh random updates are random. I am sorry, but it's my hols now so I'm just writing a lot xD

Thanks so much to Savage Kill for reviewing this fic as well as adding it to your favourites, SnowstormX for reviewing and following this fic, blackcat711 for adding this fic to your follows and favourites, and adgenelia, Eurwen de Vill and Evan Akira-kun for following this atory! Thanks so much for your patience and support, guys! ;D


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I only own the OC. **

***earlier that year***

In the opinion of most of their classmates, the quiet Mikoto Shirato and the oftentimes equally quiet Wei Liu made quite a pair. Both weren't particularly inclined to speak much, and both were rather well acclimated to their studies. Their introverted natures led to them teaming up as partners for projects and the like- due to the fact that neither bothered to really seek out their own partners, hence being pushed together simply because they had no other option. There were those who assumed that the two of them were an item, but that was utter bull- at least, that's what both Liu and Shirato had agreed on during one of the rare times that they conversed about something besides schoolwork.

Mikoto honestly wasn't interested in Liu that way- though she was quiet, she didn't particularly favour Liu's own silence. Liu had also made it clear that he shared the sentiment, and Mikoto was pretty sure he was the type that would prefer to court someone of his own racial descent. While some would have considered this rude and almost offensive, Mikoto just took it as it was- she was used to her friend's (though the use of the term was somewhat debatable) demeanour. However, despite all this, it could easily be said that Liu was the closest companion Mikoto had in her class.

Which was sort of sad, really, if Mikoto thought about it.

"Youre early, Shirato." Liu greeted as he stopped next to Mikoto, who was standing near the entrance of the school. It was the first day of the new school term, and there were loads of students milling around as they either searched for friends or sought out specific locations. Added to the number of stands set up and people hollering to recruit members into clubs, and you had a pretty hectic scene.

It took all of Mikoto's strength not to turn on her heel and walk back home. She hated crowds.

"You too, Liu-kun." Mikoto greeted, her ponytail moving slightly with her head as she nodded.

"Class 2-A, I presume?"

"Yes."

"Good. It would have been troublesome if I was forced to seek a new lab partner I wasn't familiar with in my second year."

"It's nice to see you again too, Liu-kun." Mikoto muttered, her tone bland with sarcasm.

"Hm." Liu just took it as it was. Despite how blunt he could be, he was rather cool and didn't waste time responding towards petty snarks.

The Chinese boy returned his gaze back to the crowd before him, contemplating how he was going to navigate the path into the school building. However, he paused as his eyes fell upon something that caught his attention- or rather, someone. An extremely tall purple-haired boy was standing amongst the crowd, snacking on a bag of potato chips. Definitely a first-year; Liu would have remembered someone that stood out so prominently- in the literal and metaphorical sense. His unique hair colour sparked a memory in the recesses of Liu's mind, however, and he narrowed his dark eyes. As a basketball player, he was all too aware of just who this boy was...

"I have to go." Mikoto's voice suddenly announced, catching Liu's attention. He glanced back at his companion, whose expression was suddenly carefully neutral.

"I beg your pardon?" Liu raised an inquisitive eyebrow. What was this, all of a sudden?

"Sorry, Liu-kun. I'll catch up to you in class." Mikoto responded, quickly walking around Liu and passing him by before he had a chance to respond. There was longer path around the back that lead to the school field, which also provided a path into the school building. Very few students used it to get into the building, but Mikoto was willing to use that path if it meant avoiding him- that purple-haired giant...

As the Shirato girl walked out of earshot of her classmate, she allowed a bitter smirk to cross her face, emitting a low, hoarse bark of laughter at her luck.

He was here. One of them was here.

***present day***

"You always eat alone during lunch?" Himuro asked lightly as he walked up to the Shirato sitting by her lonesome at a table. It was lunchtime, and Himuro had decided to stay in the cafeteria for lunch today instead of heading to his usual spot on the roof- mostly because he had noticed a familiar friend sitting at an empty table on her own and would have felt guilty if he just left her like that.

"No. As you can see, I'm quite the socialite." Mikoto responded simply, taking a bite of her bento.

"You are?" Himuro blinked. He looked around the mess hall, expecting to see someone that he hadn't noticed heading towards the table. Mikoto gave a small sigh.

"I was being sarcastic, Himuro-kun." Mikoto explained simply, gesturing for him to sit down at her table if he wanted to.

"I keep forgetting you have a sense of humour." Himuro muttered as he slid into the seat opposite of the girl as he placed the sandwich he had bought on the table. He couldn't help but feel somewhat sheepish for appearing so disbelieving of Mikoto's comment- though she didn't seem to be offended.

"It'll take some getting used to." Mikoto agreed, not really bothering to defend herself. It was true, anyway- her dry wit was something very few knew about, so it was only natural for Himuro to react that way.

"Do you normally spend recess by yourself?"

"Most of the time, yes."

"What about your gymnastics captain? What was it... Matsuki?" Himuro inquired.

"She helps out in the student council. " Mikoto replied. Hinata was pretty active in her co-curriculur activities. Even though her main focus was on the gymnastics club, she also participated in other club's activities, which was quite rare among the students.

"How about Liu?"

"Would _you_ enjoy eating with Liu-kun on your own?" Mikoto raised a brow.

"Point taken." Himuro agreed sheepishly. The two of them then proceeded to eat their lunches in silence, neither one really wanting or needing to converse further. Himuro was actually somewhat glad for her stoicism- he sometimes preferred a peaceful silence over mindless chatter. That was another reason he got on so well with Atsushi- the purple-haired boy was usually too preoccupied with eating to bother with conversation, and even when he wasn't eating, Atsushi wasn't exactly a man of many words.

But even so, Himuro did sort of wish that Shirato would take the initiative to talk to him of her own accord. Even with his sharp instincts and intelligence, Himuro struggled to understand what went through her head, and it made it more difficult than usual for him to think up something to say. Casual talk was a good way to start, but to actually keep a conversation going between himself and Shirato was a bit difficult- though he did notice that she was responding a bit more positively.

"Hey, Shirato-chan." Himuro commented nonchalantly, attempting to start a new conversation.

"Hm?" Mikoto hummed, still chewing on her food.

"I know this is a long shot," Himuro began slowly. "But do you like Atsushi, by any chance?"

Mikoto choked. The girl quickly made a grab at her water canteen to wash her food down, while Himuro just watched on calmly as he continued to eat his sandwich, still waiting for an answer to his question.

"You mean, romantically?" Mikoto coughed out, her voice still a bit strained from choking on her rice. "As if. Guys like him don't appeal to me."

"Really?" Himuro inquired with a slight tilt of his head. "Then what kind of guys do appeal to you, then?"

"Isn't that somewhat personal?" Mikoto replied, raising an eyebrow. Quite honestly, she was only trying to divert the topic because she really had no experience whatsoever with guys on that sort of level. And she really didn't want to admit that to a guy who probably had a waiting list for girls who wanted to date him...

"I suppose I can understand." Himuro nodded as he mused thoughtfully. "I wouldn't like it if someone I barely knew asked me that sort of question."

"I'm guessing that happens a lot for you." Mikoto scoffed.

"What makes you say that?" Himuro asked, puzzled at what she was implying.

"If I had a penny for every time I heard a fellow classmate talking about you, I could just drop out of high school and live the rest of my life without needing to worry about my finances." Mikoto replied, pointing her chopsticks at him for emphasis.

"Don't you think that's a bit of an exaggeration?"

"Have you seen the number of dirty looks I've gotten already simply because of the fact that you're sitting at my table?"

"Really?" Himuro started slightly, glancing around to see if Mikoto was correct. She might have been- given that he noticed some heads swivelling in the other direction as he looked around. "I'm sorry. Do you want me to leave?"

"Nah. Stay." Mikoto waved it off, though there was an almost mischievous gleam in her eyes as she looked back at him. "It's more fun to watch them fume silently since they know they can't do anything about it."

"You really don't sugarcoat things, do you?" Himuro chuckled, pleasantly surprised to see the more lighthearted side of the Shirato girl. He then continued to eat his sandwich, not really expecting much of a response from the girl.

"I'm afraid not." Mikoto replied. "My honesty is what makes me most appealing to men chasing after my affections, after all."

Himuro choked on his sandwich. Mikoto just took a sip of water from her canister, seemingly unconcerned about the fact that the boy in front of her was choking and smacking his chest repeatedly to cough it up. Himuro was too busy trying to free his airway to notice, but Mikoto allowed herself to give a small, satisfied smile.

This friendship was going to be very unhealthy for both of them if it continued in this 'tit for tat' manner.

* * *

Mikoto grunted as she pushed off the uneven parallel bars that day during gymnastics practice, finally finishing up her routine. The additional moves she had added to it had turned out relatively well- much better than she'd expected, actually. However, her flyaway dismount was off balance, and upon her landing she stumbled backwards before she regained her footing once more. The Shirato cursed quietly under her breath, frowning exasperatedly at her mess-up. Her dismounts always were a problem...

"You okay there?"

Mikoto turned around to see Hinata Matsuki standing before her, a slightly concerned expression on the captain's face. Hinata had a towel over her shoulder, and she was also handing one out to Mikoto herself, who accepted it gratefully.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Mikoto reassured, draping the towel over her neck.

"That was a pretty good routine." Hinata commented, placing her now free hand on her hip. "Maybe you could try for a double flyaway?"

"I already struggle with a normal one." Mikoto sighed as she wiped off her sweat. "Double would really be pushing my limits."

"True." Hinata mused, placing her hand on her chin in thought.

"Still got a lot to work on, I guess." Mikoto agreed, heading towards the benches alongside Hinata.

"I think I've almost got my routine down." Hinata commented nonchalantly, glancing curiously at Mikoto. "And just in time for the competition, too. How about you, Shirato-chan?"

"I'm not joining the competition." Mikoto replied shortly as she sat on the seat, her friend and captain joining her. As she did so, her eyes glanced around the gym- nope, Himuro wasn't here today. That was a bit of a relief- it would be seem pretty scary if he had. Almost stalker-ish... was that what she seemed like? She dearly hoped not- that wasn't her intention at all.

"Again." Hinata groaned, pouting at Mikoto as the Shirato's blue eyes refocused back on her. "Why don't you ever take part in these things? You practice hard enough."

"I'm busy." Mikoto explained.

"But apparently you've got enough time to hang around the basketball team during their practices." Hinata shot Mikoto a knowing look, prompting the Shirato to raise a curious brow.

"How did you know?"

"Kenichi-kun was talking about it." Hinata responded, though she subtly averted her gaze. Mikoto just raised a brow at the Matsuki's suddenly flushed face, but didn't make a move to pursue it. However, she had to acknowledge the sneaking suspicion that her friend may be more than a bit interested in the basketball team's captain...

"Hm." Mikoto shrugged, retying her hair into a bun- she could feel a couple of strands coming loose. "I'm just not that interested, Matsuki-chan. It's too much effort."

"Guess it can't be helped then." Hinata relented. She had only known Mikoto since they both joined the same club, and she was always a bit disappointed that despite the potential she had, Mikoto didn't seem to want to work on it. She was only doing gymnastics for the sake of fun. Pausing for a moment, Matsuki added slyly- with a teasing smile on her face. "Kenichi-kun also said Himuro-kun's taken an interest in you."

"It's not the kind of interest you're thinking about." Mikoto responded cautiously, shooting Hinata a vaguely exasperated look. She got on relatively well with her, and had even hung out a couple of times just to chat about regular teenage things.

"Even so... this is Himuro we're talking about." Hinata sang playfully, nudging Mikoto and shooting her a wink.

"Your point?"

"Do you have any idea how lucky you are?"

"Oh yes. Most fortunate." Mikoto responded sarcastically.

"You know, any other girl would be ecstatic by now." Hinata continued. "Aren't you even a bit flattered to be receiving the attention of one of the most sought after guys in school?"

"I used to know a male model, Matsuki-chan. I've had my fair share of experience with 'sought after guys'." Mikoto retorted, the memory of the blonde model she spoke of spurring a vague bitterness in the pits of her stomach.

"Are you telling me you don't think Himuro's attractive?" Hinata pushed, tilting her head at Mikoto. She decided she might as well ask directly- during the amount of time she had spent with the girl, she knew one thing for sure, and that was that Mikoto never lied.

"...I never said that." Mikoto muttered slowly, her eyes flickering away briefly. Hinata grinned- that was all the indication she needed to know the Shirato's real thoughts.

"So you do at least think he's good-looking!" Hinata accused victoriously.

"I never said that, either." Mikoto defended, causing Hinata's face to fall again.

"Well, what do you think, then?" Hinata challenged.

"I think I'm going to work on my beam routine now." Mikoto replied shortly, standing up and heading towards the beam without sparing a moment for Hinata to respond.

"H-hey! Mikoto-chan!" Hinata stuttered out, thrown off-guard by the Shirato's sudden move. However, despite her call, Mikoto didn't even spare a glance back. Hinata just pouted in exasperation- she never knew what was going through Mikoto's head. "Oh come on!"

Mikoto's lips twitched upwards into a small smile as she heard Hinata's annoyed exclamation, and she gave a quiet laugh under her breath. It always was fun to tease Hinata- she had some of the best reactions when her curiosity wasn't sated. As Mikoto hopped up onto the beam, she took a deep breath before beginning her cartwheels, letting her thoughts wander again. Unfortunately, because of her most recent conversation, her mind kept going back to a particular dark-haired, basketball-playing teen...

Sure, maybe she did think Himuro was good-looking. But that didn't mean she thought of him as attractive. She'd been around loads of basketball players before- all of whom weren't lacking in the looks department, either- and even then there had only been one that had caught her attention. Hence there was no reason for her to think any differently of Himuro. Yeah, he was pretty fit and well-toned. So what? Lots of guys were. He was quite intelligent as well, but that wasn't too big a deal. She would give him credit for being quite a gentleman though- he was very polite, which was sort of difficult to find in guys thses days. But that hair! That completely overrode everything! It was always in his face, how did he even see properly? Not to mention that it blocked the view of one of his eyes- those ash-coloured, mysterious... captivating... gorgeous eyes...

...

Okay, fine. He was pretty hot. So sue her for thinking that.

* * *

AN: Slow progress is slow. Pardon the relatively short chapter. Been slowing down my writing pace lately so... yeah. I'm sorry xD

Thanks so much to Savage Kill for reviewing, Rhythm15 for doing the same and favouriting the story, PhoenixRage92 for reviewing as well as following both my profile and this fic, MaxineCrazy for favouriting and following this fic, katehoshimiya for favouriting the story, as well as Black Sakura-chi, jennelyn12, Held Together With Tape, Myujikaru Sakura, Daisy-In-Life and thesadnesswilllastforever for following this fic! Ya'll rock ;D


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I only own the OC. **

***One year ago***

_"What the hell were you guys thinking?!" Mikoto yelled as she confronted Daiki Aomine in his room- the latter standing almost lethargically before her. She had just stormed into his room like nobody's business- given who she was to him, his parents had just let her head right on in- and he was pretty annoyed by the whole thing._

_"I don't get what the big fuss is about." He drawled, picking his ear with his pinky in an uncaring manner. "It was just another match."_

_"'Just another match'?!" Mikoto repeated disbelievingly, her eyes glittering with venom as she waved her arms in frustration. "Are you kidding me?! Did you see what you did?"_

_"If they were too weak to hold their own, then it's their problem." Aomine responded coldly, meeting her gaze evenly. "The least they could have done was put up a proper fi-"_

_SMACK!_

_Aomine's head snapped to the left, his eyes widening as he took a moment to register what had just happened. When his brain finally kicked in again, he realized that his cheek felt really sore- the skin there was probably reddening, judging from the pain he felt. He reached up to touch his cheek, before he turned back to face Mikoto, his eyes widened slightly in stunned shock._

_She'd slapped him._

_"Don't give me that bullshit." Mikoto growled, barely able to stop her voice from shaking as she lowered her raised hand. "They fought hard. They fought so damn hard. They gave it all they had, and you guys just toyed with them. The least you could have done was give them some semblance of respect."_

_Here, Mikoto's voice started to shake slightly, her tone becoming almost watery as she finished her rant._

_"Did you even see what you did to them? To Tetsuya-kun?" She asked quietly, looking pleadingly up at the boy she had known for years. She remembered when he had been so kind and happy- always wearing that bright grin of his that reminded her of the sun. She had known that boy- grown up with him. Laughed with him. Shared her stories and had him confide in her in return. But now..._

_Standing before her was someone who was nothing like that boy. And his response only confirmed just how different- how distant- he was now._

_"So what?" Aomine responded monotonously, his expression returning back to that lazy, uncaring mask he always wore. His answer seemed to stun Mikoto, whose expression changed into one that was a mix of confusion and hurt. Despite the fact that she had just slapped him, he wouldn't- couldn't- bring himself to even think about raising his own hand against her. For one, he had his own set of morals and rules despite his delinquent tendencies- one of which was that he would never touch a girl. Besides, she was still someone dear to him..._

_However, Aomine was suddenly thrown off guard when Mikoto lowered her head... and started laughing. It was low and hoarse- it sounded more like sobbing than anything else- but she was clutching her stomach and laughing. Even he was too stunned to respond as he kept staring at the Shirato girl, who was slowly recovering from her bout of hysterics. As she glanced back up at him, her blue eyes were resentful as she smirked bitterly at him._

_"I don't even know who you are anymore, Daiki."_

* * *

"Say, did any of you catch that match last night?" Okamura asked casually as he and the rest of his teammates headed out of the locker rooms. It was time for their usual Tuesday practice, and everyone was here- as expected.

"No. But the Heatles probably wiped the floor with their opponent." Fukui scoffed, his tone as snarky as ever.

"It was barely a match. The outcome was inevitable." Liu added his input as they strolled onto the court.

"Liu has a point. It was a pretty obvious match." Himuro commented. Murasakibara just hummed idly in response- he never really cared much for watching basketball matches. In fact, he didn't even care all that much for his own playing, so why would he waste time watching other people do so?

"I'll say." Okamura agreed.

"Oi, you lot. Gather around." Coach Araki called out, her voice commanding. The basketball team obediently followed he orders, and the coach crossed her arms seriously as she addressed them. "As you all know, the Interhigh is coming. This competition is not only the first major tournament of the year, but only the top eight in this competition qualify for a place in the Winter Cup." The coach's dark eyes darted to each and every one of her team's faces, making sure that her message was heard loud and clear. "I expect that you all will train hard for this competition. Simple qualification won't be enough- you will climb to the top. Is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am!" They all responded. They didn't really need much motivation to actually heed those orders- all of them were eager to win and prove their worth.

"Good." Masako nodded, before she turned around and picked up a laminated sheet of paper from the bench behind her. She held it up so that all the members of the team could see it as she explained. "This is the schedule we'll be using up until the competition. Be sure to attend the extra practices." Here, her expression darkened, and she glared at her team. "Those who are absent and fail to deliver a proper excuse will suffer the consequences."

That was enough to make sure that no one would miss out on even one practice session. There was no way any of them wanted to incur the coach's wrath- that woman was frightening when enraged.

"So, which schools are the biggest threats in this tournament?" Himuro inquired curiously. As a recently transferred student, he had close to no knowledge whatsoever on the local teams.

"Good question, Himuro." Coach Araki nodded, picking up yet another sheet of paper from the bench. This one was much bigger than the last, and there were the names of many schools scrawled over it, some of which were highlighted in different colours. "These are all the schools participating in the Interhigh. Those highlighted in blue are the ones that you need to look out for."

"What about those highlighted in green?" Himuro asked. There were only five schools on the list that were highlighted in such a manner.

"Those," Coach Araki explained, her tone solemn. "Are the schools which have accepted a former member of the Generation of Miracles into their team." That was enough to make everyone pay close attention- this year was going to be the first year that the Miracles would be competing in high school tournaments, so they could not afford to slack off. "With these schools, don't take any risks. Destroy them."

"Got it." Okamura grinned- an uncharacteristically vicious look on his face as he thought of going against the Miracles. The best of the best, supposedly; facing off against them would undoubtedly result in a fantastically heart-pounding match. The captain then turned to the tallest member of the team, raising an eyebrow. "Generation of Miracles, huh? So, Murasakibara- looks like you might be facing off against some of your old buddies during this tournament."

"Maybe." Murasakibara shrugged nonchalantly, thought there seemed to be a more fiery expression in his violet eyes. "It doesn't matter. I'll crush them."

"Nice to see you motivated, Murasakibara." Fukui snorted. It wasn't a complete joke- Murasakibara could get pretty serious in a match.

"And what of this 'Seirin'?" Liu asked. That was a name he hadn't really noticed when he'd played in the Interhigh last year.

"They are a relatively new team. They don't seem like much, but from what I have gathered, they have managed to beat Kaijo in a practice match." Araki elaborated. "Best not to let our guards down."

The coach then pointed to the next school highlighted in blue, expanding further on the details of the major threats in the competition. "Rakuzan is the one you need to take the most caution with. Not only have they recruited a Miracle, they have also recruited three of the five Uncrowned Kings. They are dangerous- make sure you're ready to face them when the time comes."

"A Miracle as well as the Kings, huh." Fukui mumbled, sighing. "We're doomed."

"Shuutoku and Kaijo have quite the sturdy team as well- don't go easy on them." Coach Araki continued, choosing to ignore Fukui's comment. "Touou High is yet another school that has only just recently gotten a name for itself. Apparently, they have managed to recruit several national players in addition to the ace of the Miracles."

As she finished her elaboration, the coach finally put down the sheet of paper, staring evenly at the members of her team. "Despite all these odds, however, I still expect you all to perform in this tournament." Her gaze moved to Himuro and Murasakibara, and she addressed them directly. "You two are our double ace team. Do not fail us."

"Yes." "Yeah." The two boys responded in unison. Despite their seemingly casual demeanours about the whole thing, they were actually feeling pretty riled up about this whole thing. Just hearing about the tough opponents they were going to face was enough to get their blood pumping.

"All these are your former teammates, Atsushi?" Himuro asked, turning towards his tall companion.

"Yeah." Murasakibara responded evenly. He remembered all too well the promise he had made with his old teammates in middle school- it looked like it would soon be time to see it through, then.

"Hm..." Himuro mused thoughtfully, his hand unconsciously reaching upwards to twirl the ring hanging around the chain on his neck. Although it wad barely noticeable, Himuro's lips twitched slightly at the edges as he fought off an excited smile. "They all sound tough. I look forward to facing them."

...

Sitting in her usual spot on the rows of benches in the gymnasium, Mikoto Shirato's expression was carefully blank as she fiddled with the thin leather band on her wrist. It wasn't an impressive thing, really, and not many noticed it. The girl's blue eyes stared wistfully at the band, her fingers lightly tracing over the swirling patterns carved into the accessory. Coach Araki had just finished briefing the Yosen basketball team on the opponents of their match, and they all seemed far too eager to practice now. All the names of the schools were very prominent due to the players they had, but one in particular had stuck in Mikoto's head...

"Touou High..."

* * *

**6:40pm**

**Sender: Mikoto Shirato**

**Recipient: Tetsuya Kuroko**

'Yo, it's been a while. Heard your school is entering the Interhigh? How are you progressing?'

...

**6:45pm**

**Sender: Tetsuya Kuroko**

**Recipient: Mikoto Shirato**

'Please do not worry. Seirin is strong; we can hold our own against Touou.'

...

**6:47pm**

**Sender: Mikoto Shirato**

**Recipient: Tetsuya Kuroko**

'I never said anything about Touou.'

...

**6:49 p.m.**

**Sender: Tetsuya Kuroko**

**Recipient: Mikoto Shirato**

'There is no other reason for you to ask.'

...

**6:53pm**

**Sender: Mikoto Shirato**

**Recipient: Tetsuya Kuroko**

'Fair enough. Say, how about we meet up the next time I head down to Tokyo? What's say we grab a milkshake- just for old time's sake? You could bring a friend too, if you want.

...

**6:57pm**

**Sender: Tetsuya Kuroko**

**Recipient: Mikoto Shirato**

'That would be nice. But I'm not sure if you would like it if I were to bring one of my teammates.'

...

**7:01pm**

**Sender: Mikoto Shirato**

**Recipient: Tetsuya Kuroko**

'I don't mind! How bad can it be?'

* * *

"This is bad. This is very, very bad." Mikoto mumbled to herself as she fell into her seat in next to Liu, who was simply going through his notes as they waited for their homeroom teacher to enter. The Shirato had just returned from a trip to the faculty office, having been called there by their English teacher- Mrs Matsumoto.

"What bothers you?" Liu asked idly. Though he wasn't really all that interested in Mikoto's affairs, he was a bit curious to see what had gotten her in such a despaired state.

"Matsumoto-sensei just assigned me to tutor someone." Mikoto replied, her words barely audible as she buried her face into her arms, which were crossed over the table.

"I do not see the problem. This is a regular assignment for the students of our rank, is it not?" Liu responded. It wasn't uncommon for seniors to be assigned to assist the younger students- especially when they did as well in their studies as he and Mikoto did.

"That's not it. It's who I'm tutoring."

"And who would that be?"

Mikoto just handed the paper Mrs Matsumoto had given her, not even bothering nor having the will to say anything. Liu glanced over it briefly- just the usual official greetings, praise for Shirato's results, etcetera etcetera-

Oh.

The student she had been assigned to was none other than Atsushi Murasakibara.

"...I see." Liu responded, handing the paper back to Shirato, who took it back without even looking back up. "However, the arrangement is logical- given your efficiency at the subject... and his deficiency in turn."

"How am I supposed to tutor someone like him?" Mikoto despaired, finally sitting up straight again as she pointed at the piece of paper in her hand. She had only ever offered guidance to those of her same age or capability- not to insult Murasakibara or anything, but Mikoto honestly questioned if he fit the second criteria.

"Himuro could offer his help." Liu suggested. That piqued Mikoto's interest.

"Huh?"

"Murasakibara's grades are barely so, but they are passable. That is the only reason he is still allowed to play." Liu responded simply, turning another page in his notes casually. He was referring to the requirements each student had to follow in order to stay on a particular sports team- and that was to ensure that their main subjects did not drop below the average passing mark. "Himuro occasionally offers his teachings to him as well. Perhaps he could assist you."

"That's true... and he's from the States, too." Mikoto mused, tapping her chin in thought. As an exchange student from a Western country, Himuro's ability when it came to the English language had to be undoubtedly good. That gave Mikoto hope- Himuro was also really well acquainted with Murasakibara too; who better to know the most effective methods to teach him? "This might not be a completely hopeless case."

"Or it could result in utter failure, in which case it would be on your head, Shirato." Liu corrected. Mikoto's brow twitched.

"As optimistic as ever I see, Liu-kun."

"Hm.

* * *

"I'm surprised you actually go elsewhere besides the cafeteria during break." Himuro commented as he walked up the stairs, lead Mikoto to the roof of the school. It was now recess, and when he'd joined up with Mikoto, she had- much to his surprise- requested to see Murasakibara after explaining the situation. The two had finished up their lunches rather quickly, and were now headed towards where Murasakibara normally spent his break.

"Is it that big a surprise?" Mikoto asked. Did her daily routine really seem so boring to Himuro that even this small change seemed like such a big deal? Maybe she needed to go out more...

"I apologize." Himuro replied, not meaning to offend her. As they reached the top of the steps, he pushed open the door to the rooftop and held it open, waiting for Mikoto to walk through first before he followed suit. The rooftop of the school was rather clean and well-maintained, and the view of the city through the fence surrounding the compound was stunning from up here. The tall, purple-haired boy sitting at a corner was impossible to miss, and he raised a brow when he saw the two newcomers approaching.

"Muro-chin. Not-girlfriend" Murasakibara greeted through a mouthful of chips. Mikoto's eye twitched when she heard that, but Himuro just seemed unfazed.

"Shirato-chan wanted to talk to you." Himuro explained, sitting down on the ground near Murasakibara. He then patted the ground beside him, gesturing for Mikoto to sit down. The girl complied, but at a noticeably further distance from where Himuro had gestured.

"Matsumoto-sensei probably told you that I was assigned to teach you." Mikoto continued, glancing up at Murasakibara- damn, even when he was hunched over slightly while he sat, he still towered over her. It was so not fair. "Do you want to discuss out studying schedule?"

"Studies are boring." Murasakibara shrugged, emptying out his bag of potato chips. He then reached into his pocket, drawing out a candy bar to continue his snacking.

"If you don't pass your next English test, my head is on the chopping block." Mikoto explained patiently, trying hard to stop her eye from twitching again. "And I will die before I allow myself to slip in any grade."

"You're rather studious, aren't you?" Himuro commented.

"Prissy." Murasakibara mumbled out as well.

Mikoto was pretty sure she was going to go into fits if her eye twitched again like it had been doing the whole day.

"Be quiet." She snapped, before she reigned in her annoyance and continued in a calmer tone. "Can we agree to some sort of schedule?"

"Whatever." Murasakibara shrugged. Mikoto was honestly considering strangling him now, but thankfully Himuro intervened before she could entertain that thought any longer.

"Well, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are out because of basketball practice- but you probably already know that." Himuro mused. "And you have gymnastics practice on Mondays and Fridays, so that leaves Wednesdays and Sundays free."

"But your club's extra practices will occupy your Wednesdays and Fridays, right?" Mikoto asked. "So the most convenient day would only be Sunday." She looked back at Murasakibara as she continued. "Is that alright with you, Murasakibara-kun?"

"Yeah. It'll do." Murasakibara replied nonchalantly, finishing up his candy bar. He seemed a bit disappointed at that, and decided to pay a bit more attention now since there was nothing else he had on him to eat at the moment.

"Okay, so..." Mikoto thought about it for a moment. "We can meet up around noon or so for the tutoring. Maybe we could do it outside somewhere, or at our homes. Where would you prefer?"

"My house." Murasakibara responded. He preferred it if he could stay at home instead of moving around- least of all for studies.

"Then your home address, please." Mikoto requested, handing him her phone to type out in her notes. The boy did as he was asked, before handing it back to Mikoto, who nodded when she read the address- it was close enough to her own place. "Yeah. This should do. I'll let you know when I've planned out the dates for our sessions."

"Mm." Murasakibara hummed boredly he really couldn't care less. The bell rang just then, signalling the end of recess, and Mikoto stood up.

"I'll see you two around." Mikoto said, nodding towards the two boys. "Thanks again, Himuro-kun."

"Right. We'll see you, Shirato-chan." Himuro replied, waving at the girl as she made her leave. He made to stand up as well, but a call from Murasakibara stopped him just as he got to his feet.

"Hey, Muro-chin."

"Hm?" Himuro looked back at his friend. Murasakibara was staring in the direction where Mikoto had headed, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Why do you think she hates me so much?" Atsushi inquired, his eyes flickering back towards Himuro. That made him blink in surprise.

"What?"

"Not-girlfriend." Murasakibara elaborated, pointing at the door which Mikoto had gone through. "She hates me."

"Why would you say that?"

"The way she looks at me." Murasakibara shrugged, standing up as well. Himuro mulled over what that as the two of them headed towards the staircase, intending to head back to their classes.

"I don't think she hates you, Atsushi." Himuro finally spoke up after thinking over it for a while. "Maybe she's just annoyed that you keep calling her that."

"Maybe." Murasakibara responded, though he didn't seem too convinced.

Himuro didn't blame him. Even he didn't believe his own words.

* * *

The walk towards the train stop that evening continued in a relative silence, neither Himuro nor Mikoto finding the need to converse too much. The conversation he'd had with Murasakibara still stuck in his head, and Himuro was thinking of all the logical explanations for the Shirato's attitude towards Atsushi. Though it was hardly noticeable, she definitely seemed a bit colder towards Atsushi than she was with Himuro- as if she was forcing herself to remain polite towards Murasakibara. It was perplexing, to say the least, and Himuro had no idea what the reasoning behind that was. He definitely couldn't ask her directly about it, and since that was all he could think about right then, he couldn't really start a conversation with her...

So, Himuro found himself surprised by Mikoto for the second time that day, when she broke the silence as they both stood on the waiting platform.

"Himuro-kun?" She called out, her voice neutral. Himuro glanced over at her in vague curiosity, and saw that Mikoto was staring straight ahead as she spoke, not meeting his eye.

"What is it?" Himuro inquired. This was peculiar- normally the Shirato was confident enough to meet his gaze. What suddenly had her so... hesitant?

"Is basketball fun to you?" Mikoto asked unexpectedly. Himuro was taken aback at that for a moment, but responded quickly enough.

"Yeah. Of course it is." He replied. Though he did bear a small semblance of resentment towards the sport, he couldn't deny his passion for the game.

"So you like playing, then?" Mikoto asked, finally looking back up at Himuro. Was it just him, or did she sound... hopeful?

"Definitely." Himuro confirmed. What was with the onslaught of questions all of a sudden?

"Why is that?" Mikoto asked. Himuro thought about that for a moment before he answered.

"It's the rush you feel when playing, you know?" Himuro's expression became wistful as he spoke of the sport he loved. "The exhilaration, the thrill... it's amazing."

"Then... you'd like to be the best there is at basketball, right?" Mikoto asked hesitantly. Another unexpected question.

"Obviously." Himuro replied. The question made him a bit tense, however- he was reminded all too much of his former friend in the States, and how his old coach had declared that Himuro still wasn't her best student, despite how hard he tried. Once again, his hand went to the chain around his neck, only this time he clenched it in his grip almost bitterly.

"...What would you do if you were the best?" Mikoto asked once more after a brief pause. Her expression was carefully guarded, as if she was worried about the answer she would receive.

"Hm?"

"If you really were the best at basketball... what would you do then?" Mikoto repeated. That got Himuro thinking- the best at basketball? What would that be like? To be able to give it his all, and to stand above the rest as he played, to never lose... it would be great.

But he could never achieve such a thing. It wasn't pessimism- it was a fact, and he knew it well.

"I don't know." Himuro shrugged in an attempt to seem nonchalant, but there was a dark expression in his eyes. "I'm not the best anyway, so it doesn't matter."

"Himuro-kun..." Mikoto trailed off as she watched the boy's expression, not knowing what to say. She couldn't tell what he was feeling, so how would she know where to begin in the first place?

"Ah, there's my train." Himuro commented casually, gesturing to the train that was approaching- he didn't want to be rude, but for once he really didn't want to talk much longer with the Shirato right now. "It's been nice talking to you, Shirato-chan. I guess I'll see you around."

Mikoto didn't respond, but Himuro didn't mind. His mood had dampened slightly as well, and he barely even glanced back as he got onto the train. However, a comment that fell from Mikoto's lips caught his attention once more.

"...You don't have to be the best."

"What?" Himuro started, turning around again. Mikoto met his gaze evenly this time, her expression solemn.

"If you no longer see the joy in playing, being the best is meaningless. You only end up hurting yourself... and the ones who care for you." Mikoto responded, her voice almost sad despite the serious look on her face.

Himuro didn't get to answer that- the doors of the train closed before he could even think of a proper response.

* * *

**AN: **The earlier chapters have been edited slightly due to a careless mistake on my part. Please note that Mikoto is the same age as Liu and Himuro (17), while Fukui and Okamura are 18, therefore Mikoto is not classmates with Fukui- he is her senior. Himuro and Shirato are thus the same age, and she is not his senior, so I have changed the suffix he addresses her with. There is no excuse for my carelessness, and I can only ask that ya'll forgive me (thanks so much to PhoenixRage92 for pointing this out. I owe you lots ;D)

As usual, many thanks to Savage Kill and Rhythm15 for reviewing, Jikola and AmIValid for adding this ficto your follows and favourites, WeIrDcHeeseCAkelAzypAnse (loving that username btw xD) and Tsuna De Vongola Decimo for following this fic, as well as ciarra halle and LiLaoRyo704 for favouriting this story! You all are awesome xD


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I only own the OC. **

"So let me get this straight," Himuro concluded, raising an eyebrow at Mikoto in vague disbelief as he sat across the cafeteria table from her. "You're alright when it comes to dealing with cockroaches and spiders, but you're terrified of hamsters?"

"I'm not 'terrified'." Mikoto corrected as she took another bite of her bento. "I just dislike them."

"What's your reason for that?"

"Got bitten by one as a kid. They're detestable rodents."

"You know, you're pretty much destroying every inital assumption I had of you." Himuro responded, a small smile tugging at his lips. Though she looked like nothing out of the ordinary, Shirato was far from that, it would seem. Along with her dislike for hamsters, so far he had found out that she had a dog named Toshi, was terrible at both shogi and chess, and was a fan of martial arts. He couldn't really associate the prim and proper image she had with even one of these traits- except maybe the dog one, but he would have thought she was more of a cat person.

"And what would these 'initial assumptions' be?" Mikoto asked.

"Well for one, you're definitely not demure."

"I am offended." Mikoto mumbled, sighing lightly as she unconsciously patted the top of her head to make sure her hair was still in order.

"One thing's for sure, though- you're pretty obsessed with neatness." Himuro commented idly.

"I'm not obsessed." Mikoto replied defensively. She made sure to lower her hand from her head as she did so, though.

"OCD, perhaps?" Himuro teased lightly, an amused expression in his grey eyes. Mikoto shot him an exasperated look, but before she could make an attempt at a retort...

"Hey, Muro-chin. Not-girlfriend."

The relaxed drawl of Murasakibara's voice cut Mikoto off as she was about to make her reply, and the two teens looked up to see the violet-haired underclassmen towering over them as he stood at the table with a tray (that was piled up with a mountain of food, Mikoto noted) in his hands. The Shirato was about to return his greeting out of habit, but stopped herself as she registered what he'd said.

"I do have a name, Murasakibara-kun." Mikoto grumbled, glancing away. Clearly, she wasn't quite fond of the boy, and wasn't doing much to conceal it. Unfortunately for her, Murasakibara could be quite thick-skinned as well as stubborn, and didn't quite get the message.

"Muro-chin, can I sit here?" He asked, glancing at the raven-haired boy who also sat at the table.

"Go ahead." Himuro shrugged, though his eyes flickered back over to Mikoto to observe her reaction. As expected, the girl seemed to be surprised, before a hint of annoyance flashed in her blue eyes.

"Shouldn't I be the one you ask permission for before you sit...?" Mikoto deadpanned. She had been the one who had sat here first, after all...

"Well, I'm sure the rest of your company won't mind." Himuro responded, gesturing to the the mostly empty table.

"Not-girlfriend's eye is funny." Murasakibara commented casually as he began work on his lunch, observing Mikoto's eye as it began to twitch. The Shirato immediately forced her nerves to halt the action, and she placed her bento down before rubbing her temples as she sighed.

"Murasakibara-kun, please address me by something other than that." She requested coolly, trying to remain noncommittal.

"Nope." Murasakibara responded simply, chewing on his pudding.

"Don't mind it too much- Atsushi does it all the time." Himuro interjected- probably sensing Mikoto's sudden urge to stab Murasakibara with her chopsticks. The girl just shot him another annoyed look.

"That's a lie and you know it." She combated, knowing full well that it was. Even Himuro shot her an apologetic glance when she said that, not bothering to deny it.

"Hey, Himuro, Murasakibara. Got room for two more?" Okamura's voice suddenly called out, catching their attentions once more. The Yosen basketball team's captain was heading towards them, waving good-naturedly while he was accompanied by Fukui.

"Ah, Fukui. Okamura." Himuro greeted pleasantly. "Nice to see you here."

"Naturally." Fukui scoffed, tossing up the sandwich he held in his hand and catching it in a nonchalant manner as it fell. "Now move over."

"I'll shift over there." Himuro responded, moving over to Mikoto's side of the table as the two third-years sat down next to Murasakibara. Okamura was hauling a tray full of food that almost rivalled Murasakibara's, and barely hesitated to begin on his lunch as well.

"H-hey. Just Murasakibara-kun was okay, but this is sort of pushing it." Mikoto protested, though the nervous tone in her voice indicated that she knew her protests would go unheeded, anyway.

"You seem to have attracted quite the crowd, Shirato." A familiar Chinese boy also joined the table, sliding into the seat next to Himuro casually. Liu barely even bothered to greet anyone as he opened up his own bento to eat- he never was one to speak too much.

"It wasn't of my own accord, Liu-kun." Mikoto sighed, before she started as she registered that Liu was sitting at her table too. "And who gave you permission to sit here?"

"If the others could join you here, I don't see why I shouldn't be able to do the same." Liu responded simply, before he proceeded to eat his lunch in silence. Mikoto knew that was all the explanation he was going to offer, and she barely restrained herself from groaning out loud. These basketball freaks were nuts...

"I hope you don't mind this, Shirato-san. But there isn't any other table available." Okamura apologized sincerely, halting his eating briefly to address the Shirato. Mikoto seemed a bit surprised- she hadn't really expected anyone to apologize, let alone the basketball team's captain. But then again, Okamura did seem to be one of the nicer members on the team.

"No. That's alright." Mikoto waved it off. "But I appreciate the apology, Okamura-senpai."

"That's good." Okamura nodded politely, offering Mikoto a small smile. The girl hesitantly returned it, and would have been fine if it had ended at that...

"Wow, that's got to be the most positive response you've gotten from a girl, Okamura. There's hope yet." Fukui deadpanned, his tone sarcastic.

Where was a sledgehammer and cement blocks when you needed them.

"Do you have to do that all the time?" Okamura retorted, a vein popping in his forehead. Fukui just snorted and ignored Okamura's glare, offering another snide remark that caused Okamura to exclaim again in annoyance. Murasakibara was soundlessly vacuuming up his food at a ridiculous speed, while Liu just muttered something in Chinese- something that probably went along the lines of "I'm surrounded by morons." or maybe even "Get me out of this country." Mikoto knew that was what she would say if she could speak a language that no one else could understand.

"Remind me how this happened, again?" The brunette turned to her dark-haired companion, who was looking increasingly amused at the frustration this whole scene was causing her. Himuro just gave a small chuckle at her question, returning to his lunch nonchalantly.

"If you befriend one of us, I guess you get the whole set."

"I want a refund."

"Sorry, no returns. Store policy."

"Shove off."

* * *

Mikoto was pulling on her sneakers in the locker room of the gymnastics club after practice, having changed out of the usual leotard that all the gymnasts used. Several of the other gymnasts were milling around the locker room as well, but Mikoto wasn't particularly interested in conversing with them. Hinata had called in sick today, so that left the Shirato pretty much alone for the day. It wasn't a big deal, though- Mikoto was used to the silence...

A beeping coming from her bag that she recognized as her message alert tone caught Mikoto's attention, and she reached into her bagpack to dig around for it. Unlocking the screen, she raised a brow upon reading the latest message.

**Sender: Satsuki Momoi**

**'Miko-chan, r u coming down to Tokyo 4 d Interhigh?'**

Mikoto's eyebrows furrowed together in thought as the question suddenly blanked out her mind. That was a question she hadn't really give much thought to. She had to admit that the thought had crossed her mind once or twice, but what was the point of going, really? She'd probably have to stay over at his place, and then she would have to deal with seeing his bored, dispassionate expression every time he came home from a match- the mere thought of having to deal with that almost made her feel sick. Even if Kuroko was going to enter the Interhigh as well, she still held her doubts about his team's chances at victory. He had told her he'd found a new 'light', but would that really be good enough to stop Daiki? The last thing she wanted to see was the sight of Kuroko's face, torn by despair and misery- just like all of Daiki's other opponents.

Not Kuroko. Anyone but Kuroko.

Biting her lip, Mikoto zipped up her bagpack, hefted it over her shoulder and exited the locker rooms. As she did so, she paused briefly in the hallway for a moment, staring at her phone in contemplation. As far as she was concerned, there weren't really any benefits for her if she went to watch tournament, except maybe...

_"You should come watch our next match. Maybe it'll be good for your research or whatever it is you're doing."_

_"...That's true. I'd actually like to see how you fare on the court, Himuro-kun."_

Finally, the Shirato just gave a deep sigh, quickly typing out a response and sending it to Momoi before shoving her phone into her pocket. She didn't want to think about this too long- she would never get any sleep tonight if she did.

**Sender: Mikoto Shirato**

**'I don't know. But I might.'**

* * *

The moment she walked out of the school building, Mikoto was greeted with the sight of a familiar raven-haired teen standing at the school gates, casually leaning against one of the pillars. As she approached his position, Himuro glanced up from where he'd previously been staring off into the distance, shooting her one of his trademark half-smiles.

"Hey." He greeted nonchalantly, pushing off the pillar as he fell into step next to the Shirato. The walk to the train station from Yosen was quite near, actually- the students only needed to walk out onto the main road, cross over the overhead bridge, and voilà- train station right in front of them. Quite convenient, Himuro had to admit. "How'd practice go?"

"Alright." Mikoto shrugged, though she shot him a curious glance. "I thought you would have headed home by now."

"Yeah, well..." Himuro shrugged, though he seemed a bit sheepish. "I figured I owed you an apology."

"Hm?"

"Thar day, after we uh, discussed the study schedule with Atsushi." Himuro explained, meeting Mikoto's eye apologetically. "I was a bit rude to you. I would like to apologize."

"You were rude?" Mikoto repeated, her tone disbelieving. She knew what he was referring to- that day at the train station, he had been a bit off-handed and albeit curt, but she highly doubted it could be considered rude. If someone had treaded onto a sensitive topic for her- the way her question obviously had been with him that day- she would have been a lot more defensive than that.

"Sort of." Himuro admitted. Despite his flaws in his attitude and pride, the boy still had his standards and moral viewpoints.

"The fact that I didn't even notice is a good indicator of your control over your mannerisms. Just relax." Mikoto replied nonchalantly, smacking Himuro on the back automatically. When she realized what she just did- along with the startled look that crossed Himuro's face as well as the slight stumble in his step that her hard smack had caused- she quickly withdrew her hand, hiding her flushed face with a faked cough into her hand. "You are forgiven." She stated simply, trying to regain her composure. She could barely remember the last time she'd been comfortable enough around someone to willingly initiate physical contact like that- it was embarrassing, and extremely out of character for her now...

However, Himuro just raised a brow at the Shirato, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Well, that had certainly been a surprise.

"That's a relief. And I have to say, you've got a pretty good arm." Himuro commented casually as he and Mikoto climbed up the stairs to the overhead bridge, the former restraining an amused smirk at the Shirato's attempts to hide her reddening face. Evidently, she hadn't meant to initiate that friendly gesture, but from the way it had been done so naturally, he had a feeling she used to do that quite a lot. Quite a brash, abrasive side to the girl's personality was underlying that seemingly calm, collected demeanour.

As the two teens reached the train station, Himuro glanced up at the screen that displayed the times of arrival and departure of the trains- his train would apparently be here in a couple of minutes or so, it would seem. As his eyes scanned the screen, he idly toyed with the ring hanging from the chain on his neck- a habit that he seemed to have acquired from possessing it for so long.

"You're always wearing that." Mikoto commented suddenly, snapping Himuro's attention back to her. The Shirato's eyes were fixed on his hand, which was mechanically turning the ring over and over.

"Hm?" Himuro lifted up the band of silver on his chain to offer a better view of the accessory. "This?"

"Yeah. You're always fidgeting with it whenever you get all quiet." Mikoto nodded, her eyes never leaving the plain, silver ring. Almost unconsciously, her own hand went to the leather band on her wrist, her fingers trailing lightly over the patterns carved into it.

"Well, you've been keeping a pretty close eye on me." Himuro responded, a hint of teasing in his voice. His eyes flickered briefly over to the band on Mikoto's own wrist, but his attention refocused back on the Shirato's expression just as quickly, so that she didn't notice.

"Don't flatter yourself." Mikoto scoffed, turning her head away. She didn't know why she'd made that statement out of the blue- the way Himuro unconsciously fiddled with the ring just reminded her an awful lot of her own accessory...

"...It has some sentimental value to me." Himuro's voice broke Mikoto out of her reverie, and she cast a vaguely surprised look back up at her companion- she hadn't been expecting a response. The boy had a somewhat distant expression in his eyes as he stared at the ring in his grasp, as if recalling an old memory. "From a... friend I used to have back in the States."

"...I see." Mikoto murmured, turning away once more. She'd already made the mistake of treading onto sensitive topics with Himuro; she wasn't too eager to do it again. Besides, she could understand not wanting to talk about old friends from her own past.

"You're not going to ask to know more?" Himuro inquired, tilting his head in surprise at the Shirato's compliance. Most people would have asked for an elaboration of some sort...

"It seems personal to you." Mikoto shrugged casually. "If you want to talk about it, you can tell me yourself without me needing to ask. As a friend, I have to be able to trust your judgement."

After a few beats of silence, during which Mikoto wondered if that look on Himuro's face was one of confusion or surprise- she couldn't tell; the boy had mastered his poker face- a small smile finally appeared on Himuro's lips.

"...Heh." Himuro shut his eyes briefly as he glanced away, though the small smile never left his face. "You've got some pretty unique way of looking at things."

"It's just logic." Mikoto shuffled her feet uncomfortably, trying not to seem flustered. Himuro was giving a lot of random praises today...

"...My friend was a bit like you." Himuro spoke up after a moment of contemplation, opening his eyes again as he turned to the Shirato next to him. "He didn't know quite how to interact with people, so I kind of gave him a hand. Got him out of his shell, you could say."

"Poor fellow." Mikoto mumbled under her breath. To add to her dismay, Himuro caught the comment, and gave a short bark of laughter.

"Of course, he wasn't quite as pretty as you." Himuro commented lightly, only half-joking as he put for his statement.

"I would feel terrible for him if he did." Mikoto scoffed. Himuro's lips twitched again at how she brushed off his comment so easily, before returning to the topic at hand.

"We were pretty close. Got matching rings back then to symbolize our 'brotherhood', so to speak. So that's where this came from." Himuro finished, idly flicking the ring and making it sway on its chain. As he said that, his eyes seemed to harden slightly, as memories of an old promise and a challenge that wasn't yet fulfilled clouded his mind.

"...I can understand hating someone close to you." Mikoto commented. Himuro gave a slight start at that, and glanced over at Mikoto in vague surprise.

"You could tell just like that?" He inquired, raising a brow. It looked like he wasn't the only observant one around here- he had to watch his guard, it would seem.

"It shows in the way you speak." Mikoto responded, fidgeting once more with the band on her wrist- Himuro couldn't help but note that she never took it off, even during her gymnastics practices. "Being so careful, trying to seem cool about it... But the bitterness is there. In the end you just hate them, even if you know you want to keep them close."

Another moment of silence fell over the two teens, this one less comfortable than the last. Apparently, while both of them seemed able to keep their emotions in check for the most part, to have someone hit close to the mark when it came to their own deeply-buried feelings could make things a bit awkward. Mikoto gave a small sigh under her breath, wondering if she'd made a mistake in bringing this up.

"...Sorry." She murmured in apology. "I must seem like such a vengeful nutcase right now."

"No. I understand perfectly." Himuro responded- much to her surprise, he seemed less offhand this time compared to the last time she'd approached a topic like this. If anything, the look in his eye indicated that he could sympathize with what she was saying- and Mikoto didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. That thought was put to rest for her almost immediately, though, as the girl saw her train coming around on the tracks.

"That's my train." Mikoto announced, adjusting her bagpack on her shoulder as the train rounded the bend. "I'll see you, Himuro-kun."

Mikoto thought that was the end of it, but once again, she was thrown off-guard when Himuro suddenly placed his hand on her shoulder. Instinctively, she tensed up, her boundaries with human contact having been breached for the first time in a long while.

"Are you free this weekend, Shirato-chan?" He asked, not removing his hand from her shoulder- his grip wasn't harsh or tight- if anything, it was almost... kind. Somehow, that reassured the Shirato, as her taut muscles seemed to relax slightly.

"What?" She asked, perplexed.

"I think we've found some common ground to work on." Himuro replied, that half-smile of his gracing his features once more. "So how about it? We could hang out somewhere that's not school for once."

"Um..." Mikoto blinked in surprise for a moment, but didn't have time to think too long on it before she responded- her train was slowing down at the stop already. "I guess that would be okay?"

"Great." Himuro nodded in satisfaction, before he put forth another question. "I don't believe I've ever gotten your number?"

"That's because I haven't given it to you."

"And...?" Himuro trailed off, raising an almost flirtatious eyebrow at Mikoto. The girl couldn't help it- she gave a laugh at his approach.

"Very smooth, Himuro-kun. I applaud you." She smirked. Without much hesitation, she passed him her cellphone, allowing him to key in his number and give his own phone a missed call.

"Perfect." Himuro said in satisfaction, passing the phone back to the Shirato and offering her a slightly wider smile than before. "I'll let you know when and where to meet up. I'll see you around?"

"See you." Mikoto waved, before turning on her heel and dashing onto her train as quickly as she could- getting in just as the doors were closing. As she did so, she failed to conceal the smile that crossed her face- one of the few, sincere smiles she'd had in a long while.

Unbeknownst to her, that same smile was also spreading across Himuro's own face.

Perhaps this friendship wasn't all that unhealthy.

* * *

Mikoto gave a small yawn as she handled the register in her dad's mini market that same evening, resting her chin in her hand as she read through the book in her free one. Her dad had to head home for a while to grab something, leaving her alone here to man the register. While normally one would be concerned about leaving a girl alone to manage a store for a while, Mikoto wasn't concerned- she hadn't taken four years of karate lessons for nothing. That, and she had her faithful German Shepherd by her side- Toshi. Any robber that tried to mess with her would face a busload of pain if he dared.

As Mikoto idly scratched Toshi between his ears while he sat on the ground next to her seat, she blinked in surprise when she heard the sound of the entrance bell chiming. Business was slow today, so she hadn't really been expecting anyone...

"Irasshaimase!" Mikoto greeted as she put aside her book, all those years of basic etiquette kicking in automatically. What she didn't expect to see, however, was a tall boy with violet hair standing in the doorway, his equally vibrant-coloured eyes meeting her surprised gaze in vague lethargy. "Murasakibara-kun?"

"Not-girlfriend." Murasakibara greeted in response, strolling into the store without offering so much as a glance back at the girl at the counter as he headed straight for the snack aisle.

"Still going with that name, huh..." Mikoto muttered to herself under her breath, before she regained her polite demeanour and cleared her throat. "I didn't think you would come here to shop."

"This store has the new mustard-flavoured chips." Murasakibara hummed in response. Mikoto very nearly deadpanned at that- those chips were a pretty rare find, but they had only come in this afternoon! How the heck did he know they were here already?

_'Note to self: Don't underestimate the purple giant's ability to hunt food_.' Mikoto snorted quietly to herself, ducking her head as she petted Toshi again to hide her expression. She just waited patiently as Murasakibara roamed the aisles, occasionally pulling out another pack of junk food to add to the growing pile in his arms. By the time he made it back to the counter to pay for his items, Mikoto couldn't help but stare at his hoard of unhealthy edibles.

"How do you even finance your food addiction...?" Mikoto mumbled under her breath, making sure the boy couldn't hear her- he wasn't paying attention anyway, he seemed to be involved in a staring contest with Toshi. The dog's tail seemed to be wagging... oh man, did Toshi actually like this guy?

Mikoto gave a barely audible sigh under her breath, before she proceeded to silently check out each of the items he had placed at the counter and wince internally at the amount of junk food Murasakibara was buying. He probably would have been diabetic by now if not for his height- which probably came with an extremely high metabolism. Lucky guy; able to eat so much without getting fat...

"Hey, not-girlfriend."

"Could you stop calling me that?" Mikoto asked monotonously. Her request was ignored- not that she hadn't expected that.

"Do this." Murasakibara ordered, prompting her to look back up at hin curiously. The huge boy had furrowed his brows downwards into an aggressive look, his lips moving into... a very poor attempt at a smirk, maybe? It looked more like an awkward smile on him, though she had to admit- his angled eyebrows did give him a pretty intimidating look.

"What?" Mikoto deadpanned, not understanding what he was doing. Was he pulling faces at her?

"This." He mumbled out, struggling to maintain the peculiar face he was pulling. "Do it."

"...Okay?" Mikoto said uncertainly, still extremely confused. But she complied to Murasakibara's strange request anyway- it wouldn't be good if someone came into the store just to find the counter held up because some weird high-schooler wanted the cashier to pull a face. Mikoto's angled her eyebrows downwards, and her lips twitched upwards into a smirk- not that she meant to brag, but she was sure she pulled it off a lot more successfully than he did. Murasakibara then proceeded to tilt his head, scrutinizing her face closely. Mikoto patiently retained that expression, waiting for him to finish... whatever it was he was doing.

...

She really wished he would quit staring already and let her expression return to normal. Her facial muscles were starting to hurt.

"...Mine-chin." Murasakibara muttered suddenly, his eyes narrowing. Mikoto's expression went slack in confusion.

"I'm sorry?"

"Your eyes are Mine-chin's eyes." Murasakibara responded, pointing at Mikoto accusingly.

Mikoto blinked once. Twice. And then realization crossed her features.

The Shirato gave a long sigh, before leaning her elbow on the counter. She rested her chin in her hand, looking at Murasakibara with an apathetic expression- there was no point trying to deny it, anyway. It looked like the gig was up.

"Well, Daiki will be ecstatic to know his old teammate remembers him." She responded blandly. She really should have guessed that he was onto something the moment he asked her to pull Daiki's trademark expression...

Murasakibara's lips just curved upwards into a lazy, almost smug smile.

"I knew it~"

* * *

**AN: Dun dun dun. Yay, revelations! So the air of mystery surrounding our OC is lifting now, but all will be revealed next chapter. So see ya guys then!**

**Thank you ever so much to Savage Kill, Rhythm15 and PhoenixRage92 for reviewing, monettes for doing the above as well as following this fic, Agent Orenji, colouredred, xxbecca and ohmygodsun01 for adding this story to your favourites and follows, Kirino Tsuki for favouriting this story, as well as chrlnntv and Saskicheez for following this fic! Ya'll rule! ;D**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I only own the OC.**

**Teiko Middle School, two years ago***

"Hey, Daiki!" Mikoto yelled as she chased after the blue-haired boy running up the stairs. Aomine was taking the steps three at a time with his long strides, and the Shirato was struggling to keep up. "Slow down! You're running too fast!"

"You're just slow, Miko!" Aomine called back, his tone clearly indicating that he was wearing his usual bright grin. He had managed to convince her to follow him to the roof, and he was all too eager to get there as quickly as he could. "Hurry up!"

"Let's see you try to run up these stairs in a skirt- we'll see who's slow then!" Mikoto retorted in exasperation, pulling at her black school skirt as she made sure it stayed in place. Even if she was wearing shorts underneath, she still didn't want anyone seeing more than they should.

"Don't complain!" Aomine laughed as he reached the top of the stairs, glancing over at his cousin who was only just reaching the last flight. He shook his head and teasingly clicked his tongue at her slowness, before pushing through the doors to the rooftop and disappearing from sight. "Come on!"

"Showoff." Mikoto mumbled to herself, exhaling shortly in exasperation. Really, Daiki knew he was quick on his feet- he was just trying to show that he was faster than she was. The Shirato straightened out her skirt and light-blue uniform top before she reached for the door, pushing it open and walking out into the sunlight. For a moment, the sunlight momentarily blinded her, and she had to blink a few times to adjust her eyes to the transition from the dark stairway to the bright rooftop. However, once she got a proper hold of her sight again...

"Surprise, Shirato-cchi!" The cheerful voice Mikoto recognized as belonging to Ryota Kise greeted her, the blonde model grinning cheerfully as he stood amongst four others- one of whom included Daiki, who stood in the middle of the group and held a round, chocolate frosted cake in his hands. Stuck into the cake were 6 candles- one big one and five small ones- all lit with the wax slowly melting away. Was this...

"Happy birthday, Shirato-san." Tetsuya Kuroko confirmed her suspicions, inclining his head towards Mikoto. A small smile of his own played on his lips as he observed the Shirato's stunned expression- the surprise had worked, then.

"You guys..." Mikoto trailed off for a moment, taking a moment to register everything. "That was what this was about?"

"Of course!" Momoi tutted, bounding up to the older girl and grasping her hands as she swung them playfully. "Why else would we go through the trouble of getting you up here, Miko-chan?"

"As someone who has assisted the basketball team on numerous occasions, we deemed this celebration appropriate." Midorima elaborated, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The boy clutched a notebook in his free hand- probably one of his less peculiar lucky items- as he addressed the senior, who served as the unofficial assistant-manager of the basketball team. Though Mikoto was only in charge of preparing the team's lunches and the like, she rarely showed her face- but that hadn't stopped her from getting friendly with some of the friendlier members of Teiko's basketball team in her spare time. In all honesty, Mikoto had mostly accepted the job out of obligation to save them from Momoi's cooking. Not that Momoi was too offended, though- Aomine wasn't a very pretty beggar, and his desperate pleading would have convinced anyone to take the job.

"We were unable to get Murasakibara-kun and Akashi-kun to join us, unfortunately." Kuroko added, his tone somewhat apologetic. The other two members of Teiko's first string members weren't quite as acquainted with Mikoto, and normally kept to themselves when they weren't hanging out with the rest of the team- it was a surprise to Mikoto that Midorima was even here, actually. Shintaro normally preferred the company of the Akashi heir due to their ability to get along so well. "I hope you don't mind."

"N-no. That's okay. I just..." Mikoto stuttered out, feeling immensely touched at the effort the guys had gone through for her. Her manners kicked in automatically, and she bowed towards the group, not hesitating to thank them. "Thank you very much!"

"Oi oi, lay off the formalities." Aomine grumbled, stepping forth to smack Mikoto on the back as he used his other hand to hold on to the cake. When she straightened up again, Aomine shot her another grin as he continued. "We even got you cake and all- just eat before the wax gets all over the stuff."

"Only because you insisted." Mikoto laughed, her mood brightening immediately- she'd been having a bit of a rough day with all the assignments her teachers had been dumping on her, so this really made her feel a lot better. As she accepted the plastic cake knife Momoi offered to her, she shot a pointed look at her cousin before adding. "And if you dare to shove my face in the cake like last time, I'll murder you."

"No promises." Aomine smirked.

"Last time..?" Midorima repeated under his breath, raising an eyebrow. Leave it to Daiki to mess around like that.

"Alright, everyone!" Kise announced, giving the signal to sing 'Happy Birthday' for Mikoto. "On the count of three- one, two..."

As the five teens proceeded to sing the birthday song for the Shirato, Mikoto just shuffled her feet awkwardly- she never knew what to during these things- but her smile never left her face. She'd never really been surprised with a birthday celebration like this before, so this meant more to her than she could ever express. She didn't even really do that much for or hung out a lot with the basketball team, and yet these guys...

"Make a wish!" Momoi urged Mikoto once the song was finished, glad to see her friend looking so pleased at their surprise. After a moment of thought, Mikoto decided on a wish as she blew out the candles while the others started clapping- some more enthusiastic than others.

"Congratulations, you're now old." Aomine yawned widely, unable to cover his mouth due to the fact that he was currently holding the cake. "Now hurry up and cut the damn cake. I'm starving."

"You're always hungry, moron." Mikoto retorted good-naturedly, taking the cake from Aomine as she set it down to slice it up- making sure to cut a bigger piece for Daiki. That boy could eat like a horse.

"Hey, Shirato-cchi." Kise called eagerly as they all sat on the floor of the rooftop, eating their respective slices of cake with disposable napkins- supplied by the ever efficient Kuroko. The blonde's smile was bright as he spoke to the birthday girl, handing her a small, wrapped package as he did so. "We got you a gift, too!"

"Hm?" Mikoto eyes widened slightly as she finished up her slice of cake, placing the napkin aside and brushing off her hands before accepting the gift. Once she swallowed the last of her cake, she allowed herself to speak. "For real?"

"Of course!" Kise cried in exasperation, pouting at the Shirato. "It's not a birthday party without presents!"

"What is it?" Mikoto asked, turning the wrapped-up box around in her hands, as if making sure this was for real. This had far exceeded any of her expectations...

"The point of presents is to open them and find out." Midorima stated calmly, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. Mikoto just shot him a playfully exasperated look, lightly punching his arm. Despite how serious the green-haired boy was, Mikoto actually found that she got along pretty well with him- having grown acquainted with the boy because of their similarities academic-wise.

The Shirato proceeded to unwrap the present slowly- choosing to peel off the tape and folds instead of ripping it open unceremoniously. When she finally got to the small box inside all the wrapping paper and opened it...

"Woah..." Mikoto lifted the black leather band that had sitting inside the box and examined it with fascination. The leather bracelet consisted of several straps which intertwined and overlapped over a thicker band, which served as the base. There were a couple of small bronze charms attached to the straps, giving the bracelet an almost vintage look. Connected to the end of the base were two drawstrings to tighten or loosen the accessory, and there were even delicate swirling patterns carved into the band, if one looked closely.

"Wicked..." The Shirato murmured. This thing was gorgeous.

"Who uses 'wicked' anymore?" Aomine scoffed, earning a smack from Momoi.

"Don't ruin the mood." Satsuki admonished lightly, before turning to face Mikoto again. "So you like it?"

"You kidding? I love it!" Mikoto grinned- heck, she hadn't stopped smiling for nearly the whole time since she'd come up here. These guys didn't know just how happy they were making her- this had to be the best birthday she'd ever had.

"It's authentic leather, so it won't wear out easily, either." Kuroko commented, smiling slightly upon seeing the girl's overjoyed expression. As someone who was close to Aomine as well as a fellow member of the library committee, Tetsuya had become rather acquainted with Mikoto. He had to admit- he was pleased to see how well this surprise was turning out.

"Where did you get this?" Mikoto asked, looking up at her friends again- she was still a bit awed that they'd gotten something like this for her.

"Aomine was the one who spotted it. It was his idea." Midorima stated calmly. Mikoto shot Aomine a surprised look, and the boy just averted his gaze as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly- Mikoto could've sworn his ears were a bit red, too.

"I thought I remembered Kise saying that he helped to promote the store before. I figured we could get a discount, that's all." Daiki muttered in response, trying to seem nonchalant.

"That's a lie. He just went right in to buy it without asking any questions." Kuroko corrected plainly.

"We only split the bill later." Momoi added as well.

"Shut up." Aomine growled, scowling at his teammates. Mikoto just laughed, evidently amused at Daiki's flustered state- he always was a bit shy when it came to his emotions.

"Aww, you got it for me because you care!" Mikoto teased, feeling far too amused at watching Daiki's face redden at the comment.

"No. I got it because it's black- like your heart." Aomine retorted, though he wouldn't meet her eye.

"Shut up, Daiki." Mikoto sang far too cheerily, grinning as she leaned forth to hug her cousin. She really was close to him- they were more like siblings than anything else. "Thank you ever so much, cousin dearest."

"H-hey!" Aomine stuttered out, shying away from the Shirato. She wasn't budging, much to his embarassment- his teammates were looking far too amused at the scene. "What's with the creepy affection all of a sudden? Back off!"

"Aomine-cchi is getting shy~" Kise taunted, laughing at Aomine's flushed face. For all his cockiness, the boy was extremely awkward with affection.

"I am not!" Aomine denied, still trying to pry Mikoto's hands off him.

"You really are, Aomine-kun." Kuroko deadpanned, though anyone could tell that he was trying very hard to keep up the 'passive' act. Even Midorima was adjusting his glasses, obscuring the small, amused smile on his face.

"Tetsu, you traitor! Don't side with him!" Aomine retorted, glaring at the fair-haired boy. So much for being his 'shadow'- Tetsu was a total backstabber!

They all shared another round of laughter at Aomine's vehement denials, much to the boy's further embarrassment. It was always nice to share a moment like this amongst themselves- just to laugh and be happy with each other. It was only a brief moment of peace, but still, it was the kind of memory that you never forgot- no matter how short it was.

"But, in all seriousness... thank you- all of you." Mikoto thanked sincerely as she looked around at all her friends. She was glad to have them- and she hoped this would never change. That was what she had wished for- that they would all continue to play basketball together and continue to share moments like these. Basketball wasn't just a sport for them- it was practically ingrained into their lives, and was the thing that had brought them all together.

Mikoto tightened the band around her wrist, her blue eyes softening as she gave a small, happy smile. She wanted this to be a constant part of her- of all of their- lives; to just be happy as they stood together and played the sport they loved so much. Even if she couldn't play, just watching them was enough to warm her heart. This gift would stand as her own personal testament- a reminder of the relationship they all shared now, and the wish she had made.

"I'll always wear this from now on."

* * *

Mikoto examined herself in the mirror of her room, smoothing out the navy blue button-up shirt she was wearing. It would normally be a regular Sunday morning for the her, but there was a slight change of routine today. Just last night, Himuro had called the Shirato girl, asking if she was free the following day. When she'd confirmed that she had no plans, Himuro hadn't hesitated to bring up the topic of his offer to hang out somewhere again, and had arranged for them to meet for lunch at the nearby mall.

While Mikoto would normally have been a bit more reluctant to take someone up on such an offer, she found that she was almost... looking forward to it. It had been way too long since she'd gone out with a friend- she had to admit that she missed the old days when she'd been able to go out with her group of pals almost every day and witness their crazy antics. She doubted Himuro was the type to pull such antics, of course, but she found that she kind of appreciated his level-headedness. It was easier to get along with.

The Shirato fastened the additional attachments of her leather band onto the bracelet, before she tied a hair tie off her dressing table, moving her hair over her shoulder as she tied the brown locks into a simple braid. Once that was done, she appraised her appearance one more time in the mirror before nodding in satisfaction, grabbing her sling bag as she exited the room and headed down the stairs.

"Mom! Dad!" Mikoto called out, folding up the hem of her jeans as she hopped on a foot for a moment at the foot of the steps. "I'm going out, okay?"

"Where you headed off to?" Came the voice of her father- Hajime Shirato- who was sitting in the living room and reading some letters he had gotten in the mail.

"Just going out with a friend." Mikoto replied, walking over to the shoe cupboard near the entrance of her home. She grabbed a pair of socks and her usual sneakers before she sat herself down on a small stool and pulled them on.

"Is it a boy?" Her mother called from the kitchen. Mikoto was positive that her mother, Megumi Shirato (née Aomine) was trying her darndest to marry her off and get her out of the house. Either that, or she was pretty desperate to make sure her daughter wouldn't end up a spinster with five hundred cats. Her mom wasn't too fond of cats.

"Uhm... actually, yes." Mikoto replied hesitantly.

There was the sound of her dad dropping the letters he was holding. Before Mikoto could even blink, her mom was standing in the hallway, holding a mixing bowl and spoon in her hands while some flour was stuck in her dark blue hair. But she seemed far too happy to notice that.

"It is!" Megumi exclaimed happily.

"It is?" Hajime inquired suspiciously, joining his wife in the hallway. Unlike her mom, Mikoto's dad was a bit less eager to have her change her relationship status.

"He's just a friend from school." Mikoto assured, cringing slightly under her parents' scrutiny. Her mom seemed a bit deflated, while her dad seemed a bit more relaxed. "I don't get what the fuss is about. You used to be fine with me hanging around guys back in Tokyo."

"That was when you had Daiki and Satsuki around." Hajime raised an eyebrow- he had a point.

"Well, it's a start, I suppose." Megumi sighed, brushing off a bit of flour from her tanned arms as she commented idly. "It's been far too long since you've gone out with your friends."

"I went out with Matsuki-chan, didn't I?" Mikoto defended, standing up once she'd put on her sneakers properly.

"That was two months ago." Her father pointed out simply. Upon seeing his daughter's sheepish expression, he gave a small chuckle. "But it's good to see that you're going out now, at least.

"Maybe you're finally starting to settle down, Miko." Megumi added, smiling at her daughter.

"I suppose." Mikoto shrugged, grabbing a set of keys from the key holder as she exited her house, waving at her parents as she did so. "I'll see you later."

"...Well?" Megumi turned to her husband as her daughter disappeared from sight, raising an eyebrow. She didn't need to specify what she was talking about- ever since that falling out Mikoto had with her brother's son, her daughter hadn't been quite as vibrant and outgoing as she used to be. It hadn't escaped her notice, however, that her daughter seemed a bit happier than she used to be lately- the smiles came more often, as did the laughter. And Megumi had a sneaking suspicion that it was this new friend of Mikoto's that had something to do with it- even if her husband had disagreed with her.

Hajime just sighed and ran a hand through his short brown hair, shooting his wife a tired look. He really never should have doubted his wife's judgement.

"You were right." He admitted reluctantly, mumbling under his breath.

Megumi just grinned smugly.

* * *

"I'm surprised you chose this place." Himuro commented nonchalantly as he leaned back in his seat across from Mikoto, taking a sip of the milkshake he held in his hand. He'd met up with the Shirato at the mall just half an hour ago, and when he'd allowed the girl to choose between the various eateries in the mall for a lunch break, she had thrown him off yet again when she chose the last place he'd expected her to- the Maji Burger outlet. He really couldn't judge this book by its cover.

"Why's that?" Mikoto asked, before taking another bite out of her burger.

"Well, I would have assumed you were the type of person to prefer hanging out in a place with more ambience." The dark-haired boy shrugged, idly adjusting the collar of his graphic T-shirt.

"Those kind of people aren't misers like me." Mikoto scoffed in response. Himuro's lips twitched upwards at that- the Shirato definitely spoke more openly with him than she was the first time they'd met. He quite enjoyed her witty comments- they made for quite amusing interaction.

"You're being far too critical on yourself." Himuro responded, a half-smile gracing his lips. "I think the more appropriate term would be... conservative."

"Not really. I'm just not picky with my food as long as it's reasonably priced and tastes good." Mikoto corrected. Leave it to Himuro to analyse something so minor as a decision on where to eat and pick it apart so thoroughly. This guy would make a great detective- with his superb control over his emotions, mysterious aura, as well as analysis skills, he could easily be the next Sherlock Holmes. The thought made Mikoto snort quietly to herself, though she immediately stifled it- the last thing she needed was for him to think she was a loon who liked laughing to herself.

"True. These milkshakes aren't half bad." Himuro chuckled good-naturedly. He normally wasn't too fond of the beverage, but at Mikoto's suggestion, he'd decided to give it a go. Not too shabby for a fast food joint, he had to admit.

"Told you so." Mikoto replied, somewhat smugly- it always felt good to recruit a new believer in frozen and shaken dairy products. "And we could easily get at least three of those shakes for the same price that you'd pay for, say... a cup of coffee at that café over there." She gestured to a café along the lane opposite their current spot where several people were hanging around, most of whom were drinking coffee or some other caffeine-based beverage as they typed away at their laptops.

"I see you're the kind that likes to make your decisions based off logic and need over want." Himuro observed, placing his milkshake down in the table with a light 'tap'. Mikoto just raised an eyebrow as she finished up her burger, making sure to swallow before answering- her manners were always among her top priorities.

"You're making that sort of deduction from my choice of fast food?" She inquired disbelievingly. Talk about overanalyzing- nothing ever slipped this guy's notice.

"Psychology can extend to various areas." Himuro replied simply.

"Well, I can't say that your assumption was wrong." Mikoto shrugged. That was yet another occupation Himuro should consider in his future- if not as a basketball player or detective, he should totally be a psychologist. Mikoto noted with quite some admiration just how well-rounded Himuro's capabilities were.

"Hm." Himuro hummed thoughtfully, picking at some fries as he mused over the Shirato's answer for a moment. "That has both its flaws and advantages."

"Does it bother you?"

"Not at all. I think it's interesting that you're a bit different from the norm."

"Lots of people are able to think with their head."

"True. But few are able to act on it."

"Thinking with your heart can often cause more harm than good."

"But pure logic leaves no room for sympathy or consideration. It can be pretty dangerous."

"Too much emotional influence can also result in adverse effects."

"Granted, but emotions are what make us human."

"Perhaps it all comes down to circumstance and balance, in the end."

"As do all things." Himuro agreed. There was a brief pause, before- much to Mikoto's surprise- a genuine smile crossed Himuro's face, and he laughed lightly to himself as a thought occurred to him.

"What's so funny?" Mikoto tilted her head curiously, though she was still a bit stunned. So there were other expressions this guy could pull off besides his Mona Lisa smile and otherwise blank masks? Surprise, surprise.

"I can't believe we're having a debate about philosophy over milkshakes and fries." Himuro explained once he regained his composure, a wider-than-usual smile on his face. "Maybe we really should have gone for that café instead- coffee would have given this a much classier atmosphere."

"Can't argue with that." Mikoto replied, though she couldn't hold back the small smile that graced her own lips this time. Now that he'd mentioned it, she realized that Himuro had made quite a valid point. What a way to kill the 'wise and deep' image...

"You know, that really is a nice bracelet." Himuro suddenly commented, gesturing to the band on Mikoto's wrist when she reached out to grab her own milkshake. Startled at the sudden comment, Mikoto glanced down at the accessory- she was so used to wearing it that she sometimes forgot she even had it on in the first place.

"Ah, thanks." She nodded absently. While that may have seemed like a normal comment to anyone else, Mikoto knew that Himuro had done that deliberately- the subtle comment was made to bring the topic back to the reason he'd arranged for this outing in the first place...

For some reason, that didn't annoy Mikoto as much as she'd expected it to.

"I don't recall it having all those additional straps and charms, though." Himuro added, his tone light as he admired the intricately designed accessory. Whoever had gotten it for Shirato definitely had a good eye.

"Those are detachable. Our school's pretty strict with rules- accessorizing is no different." Mikoto answered, before her eyes darted to Himuro's chain. Well, she might as well bring up the topic of his ring- it was only fair. "I like your ring too, by the way."

"I highly doubt that." Himuro chuckled shortly, playing with the silver band hanging from the chain. "It's barely impressive."

"It's poetic in its simplicity." Mikoto corrected sagely, and Himuro couldn't help but blink in surprise at the wise statement.

"That was quite a nice quote." He commented, his tone tinged with admiration as he took another fry.

"I wouldn't know- I think I heard it from some action flick." Mikoto shrugged. "Pretty sure the guy who said it got stabbed after that."

Not this again.

Himuro started coughing due to his attempt to laugh at the Shirato's comment, though this time his choking fit was less severe than the last. Once he managed to calm down and had a few gulps of his milkshake to wash down the dislodged fry, he shot Mikoto a wry- yet amused- smirk.

"You really need to give me a heads-up before you do that." He panted out, though his voice was laced with lightheartedness. "I would very much like to die in a more peaceful manner besides asphyxiation."

"My... apologies." Mikoto barely managed to mumble out the last word, before she clamped a hand over her mouth and started laughing. She couldn't help herself- that had been completely unintentional! She hadn't meant for her comment to make him choke again... though she had to admit that her concern for his health had been overridden by her entertainment. But that was another thing altogether.

Himuro seemed a bit surprised for a moment, before he smiled upon realizing something. This was the first time he'd actually managed to get a laugh out of the Shirato- and he noticed with quite some amusement that she had a tendency to snort slightly in between her gasps of laughter, though she seemed to be trying to hide it.

"It's sort of endearing when you laugh like that." Himuro teased lightly, hoping to get a rise out of the girl. It was sort of interesting to see her reactions to his jests- she didn't end up giggling and flustered like most other girls did whenever he flirted lightly with them.

"No it doesn't- I sound like a dying horse!" Mikoto retorted in between her bout of laughter. Himuro couldn't help but join in with a chuckle of his own- this girl was either really thick-skinned or really good at brushing off comments. While he had originally looked at befriending Shirato as some sort of challenge, he found himself getting more intrigued with Mikoto as a person over the interactions they had. He realized that she was just as normal and human as everyone else- not just a puzzle that he wanted to solve.

As the laughter died down, a comfortable silence fell over the two of them, and they simply enjoyed the short break from conversation. Once they finished up their respective meals and were working on their drinks, Mikoto suddenly put hers down first, lacing her fingers together on the tabletop as she faced Himuro solemnly.

"But, about what we spoke about that day..." Mikoto began slowly, much to Himuro's surprise. He hadn't expected her to return to that topic since they'd already diverted away from it. "You answered my question honestly the other day. You gave me your trust, and I think it's only fair that I return the favour."

"You don't have to put it so formally." Himuro waved it off- though his own curiosity was piqued, he didn't want her to confide in him simply because she felt she had to; it wouldn't sit right with him. "It's up to you whether you want to trust me with that sort of information. I don't want you to feel like you're obliged to."

"No. I... I want to talk to talk about it." Mikoto's hesitation didn't escape Himuro's notice, and her interlocked fingers tightened slightly as she shifted her gaze to them. "It's been too long."

Himuro considered her decision for a moment, before he placed his own cup back down on the table, paying the utmost attention to the Shirato. Mikoto appreciated that he was willing to listen so intently- especially given what she was about to admit to him. Taking a deep breath, Mikoto kept her blue eyes fixated on her hands as she spoke- it would be easier to maintain her calm expression that way.

"My cousin is the former ace of the Generation of Miracles- Daiki Aomine." Mikoto stated simply. Opposite from her, she noticed that Himuro seemed to give a small start at her statement, but even then he didn't say anything- a good listener, indeed. "He started playing basketball when he was very young."

Here, she paused for a moment, memories of a grinning, dark-skinned boy filling her mind. Then, the scene in her mind shifted- the boy was taller and more muscular now, but his expression was hard and arrogant; like everyone else was beneath him and he knew it.

"How did he come to influence you to become so interested in basketball?" Himuro asked quietly, his tone placating. His calm voice seemed to bring Mikoto out of her reverie, and her eyes briefly shot to his face before she looked back at her fidgeting hands. That was all that it took for Himuro to see what emotions were brimming beneath the surface- wistfulness, the sting of betrayal, resentment.

He could read all that from a single glance, because he had seen that expression in the mirror all too many times before.

"It's kind of a long story." Mikoto hesitated.

"Take your time. I'm willing to listen." Himuro assured, his voice kinder than usual. Maybe it was his words or his naturally calming aura, but Mikoto found that she was able to relax a little, and found the strength to continue her story.

"Daiki... He loved the sport more than anything else." Mikoto continued, her tone wistful to some extent. "It always fascinated me how strongly he felt about it- and it was amazing to watch him play so well. He was like a fire; burning with such intensity and passion as he played. It was beautiful- enough to make me love the sport, too."

Himuro could hear the admiration and affection in the Shirato's voice- the impact that this 'Daiki' had left on her was almost tangible. But then, Mikoto's voice changed slightly as she continued, becoming more cold.

"But then.. he became too good. And no one could stand against him. They wouldn't even try to stop him- they just gave up any hope of beating him." Mikoto's lips thinned slightly. "It crushed him. What he loved the most... was hurting him even more. And he changed."

"He started skipping practice, stopped putting effort into playing... He got bored. It wasn't just his playing that changed, too. I never saw that sight again- the sight of him shining so brightly as he played the sport he loved. He went too far into the light, and it engulfed him. His teammates followed soon after- one by one losing that spark... save for one."

_'One'_? That sparked Himuro's interest, but he remained silent. Now was not the time for questions- those could always be asked later. If he interrupted now, he may never get to hear the end of her story.

"Daiki was selfish. He hurt the ones who cared for him, and I hate him for it. But... I can't let go." Here, Mikoto finally averted her gaze from her hands, choosing instead to stare off to the side as she finished her tale. "I want to see him- to talk to him- and yet every time I see that he's still so different, I can feel that resentment. And I don't think it'll ever go away until we both change, somehow."

That was that, then. Mikoto took a deep breath when she was finished, feeling an immense sense of relief overcoming her at finally being able to tell someone about her struggles with Daiki. It was as if a weight had finally been taken off her shoulders, but she knew all too well that she would have to pick it up again soon enough. Like it or not, Daiki was her family, and she couldn't keep avoiding him forever. Sooner or later, she would have to face him again, and she wanted to mend the bond when she did. But she couldn't- not with the way they were now.

"...Could I ask a question?" Himuro asked slowly, carefully watching how Mikoto would react.

"Go ahead." The girl shrugged, apparently having regained control over her emotions again. There was no point in moping about it now, anyway- what's done was done.

"What sparked your interest in basketball again?" Himuro inquired curiously. After all that she'd gone through, why would she continue to watch the sport that her cousin had introduced to her? Why hurt herself that way? He knew what it was like to be hurt by the sport he loved playing so much, but he wanted to know her reasons- if there was even a small chance that she shared some of the same concepts that he did... it would be comforting. It would make more sense.

"I never lost it- you can't just forget about something you're so invested in without at least fighting for it." Mikoto explained, before a small, dry smile crossed her face and she continued in a lighter tone to alleviate some of the tension. "Honestly, I couldn't play basketball to save my life, but after all the time I spent around those basketball fanatics, I guess it just rubbed off on me."

No, she couldn't simply abandon the sport she loved- just as she couldn't leave Daiki. She wanted to hate basketball- if it had a physical form, she wanted to pummel it into the ground until it turned to dust for what it had done to her beloved cousin. But at the same time, she wanted to continue loving it- wanted to see Daiki smiling and laughing as he played.

It was both a curse and a blessing.

There were a few beats of silence for a moment, and Mikoto just continued staring off to the side as she recalled memories of her days in Teiko- before the Miracles became Miracles. Jesting at Daiki, girl talk with Momoi, nearly getting a heart attack courtesy of Kuroko's random appearances, discussing modern trends with Kise, debating more serious topics with Midorima or sometimes even Akashi, and cheering for them as they played... those days were gone now, but the memories still remained. That was what chained her to her past- that was why she couldn't truly let go.

The feeling of something touching her interlocked hands startled Mikoto out of her walk down memory lane, and she nearly jerked her hand back instinctively at the contact. Blinking for a moment, the girl snapped her gaze back to her hands, and was startled to see that Himuro had reached across the table, having placed his hand over her her own. His grey eyes seemed to reflect with an expression Mikoto couldn't read, but it was more intense than anything she'd ever seen in his expression. Unconsciously, Mikoto was vaguely aware of the blush that threatened to rise upon realizing that _the_ Tatsuya Himuro was actually initiating physical contact with her, but she managed to push it back down- she wasn't going to be one of _those_ girls.

"I'll help you." Himuro stated calmly, though his expression was set. Mikoto was confused at that statement.

"What?"

"You said the both of you needed to change before you could make it up somehow." Himuro's hand tightened around hers slightly as a gesture of comfort, and Mikoto had to actually struggle this time to stop the blush from rising. "So I'll give you a hand."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Mikoto asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. This was sudden- what was he talking about?

"I'm actually going to play by ear with this situation." Himuro replied, though a small smirk tugged at the corners if his lips. "But I'll succeed."

"...You sound so sure of yourself." Mikoto gave a short bark of laughter after a brief pause- he was actually offering something like this? Her eyes glittered with mirth as she glanced back at him almost challengingly. "Are all you basketball players this confident, or is it just you being egotistical?"

"A bit of both, really." Himuro responded, his smirk finally winning over and spreading on his face. However, he sounded utterly sincere as he continued. "But I mean it- I'll help you find what you're looking for."

And maybe... he would be able to learn a thing or two, himself.

"...Once again, I reiterate that you are a very interesting person, Himuro-kun." Mikoto mused after a moment of thought, raising an eyebrow at the dark-haired boy. He still hadn't removed his hand, and she was starting to grow a bit uncomfortable with the contact as she started to notice things she shouldn't have been- like how warm his hand was, or how his his fingers were calloused, yet long and elegant. Not to mention that since he was leaning a bit closer to her from across the table, she had a much better view of his features- those ash-grey eyes were even more pretty up close, and that beauty mark was well-named for this guy...

Oh man. This boy was gorgeous. Mikoto wanted to go jump off a building for being a disappointment to her gender- this was yet another guy who was prettier than she was! As if Kise and Midorima weren't bad enough...

"The same could be said for you." Himuro replied lightly, before noticing that he was still grasping Mikoto's clasped hands. Though the girl hadn't made any comment on it, Himuro decided that he should withdraw his hand before he pushed it- he didn't want to make things awkward just when he'd finally gotten the Shirato to loosen up.

"If that's what you say." Mikoto shrugged, feeling much more at ease now that Himuro had pulled his hand back. She then leaned her elbow on the table, resting her chin in her palm as she cocked an eyebrow at the boy. "Now, I spilled far too much about myself. Your turn, now."

"Oh? I don't recall agreeing to any terms and conditions for my own secrets." Himuro jested, testing her reactions.

"It's either that or you're paying for both of us." Mikoto shrugged.

"I would have offered to do so without any conditions." Himuro returned.

"I wasn't talking about lunch- I was talking about the bookstore we're gonna drop by later." Mikoto responded evenly. Himuro raised a brow at that- she was offering to spend more time in his company? "And I must warn you, Himuro-kun- I really, really like my books." Mikoto lifted her chin almost arrogantly as she challenged Himuro- a shadow of her formerly upbeat self showing through once again. "Your wallet or your secrets. Choose."

Himuro paused. And then, he just scoffed under his breath, concealing the grin the crossed his face briefly by brushing a hand across his lips and faking a cough. Shirato made a very tempting offer- after his statement about volunteering himself without her prompting, he would have to agree to paying for her if it meant upholding his word. She may have just gotten him to say that on purpose, too...

He could get used to this girl.

"We're going to need more milkshakes if we're doing this." Himuro complied, lifting his empty milkshake cup. He figured that he would prefer to have enough lunch money for the rest of the year.

Mikoto just shut her eyes and gave a satisfied smile. She won this round.

"Agreed."

* * *

**AN: I have a habit of unintentionally making my OCs vague parallels of canon characters orz. If it's not obvious, Mikoto is such to Kuroko- she strives to change herself to accept Aomine due to her spitefulness, while in contrast Kuroko strives to change Aomine due to his own selflessness. Did that make sense? I hope so... and yes, Midorima is very pretty. Have you seen that boy's eyelashes? Gorgeous man.**

**Also, the more fluffy scenes will be coming along starting next chapter! (Took long enough pfff) Can't wait for the awkwardness I'll have to suffer through once again, haha!**

**(PS: please note that Pythona did not actually get stabbed in GI Joe the movie lol. It was just a quote that intrigued me xD)**

**All of my thanks goes out to Savage Kill, Rhythm15, becky157689, Fairy Skull , angelbeets, WalkingOnShadows, csd14ll, kitsune light, PlzGives , MeisterPanda, Romance-Oubliee, ClassDummy101, Hind-x, SillyLittlePeachy , Sachiko Keidi Honoki, Guest 1** (in response to your review: I'm glad you like the pacing so far! I'm honoured that you think so highly of this story- I hope I don't disappoint!)** and Guest 2** (thank you for your praise! I hope this update is good enough for now!). **Do forgive me for not being able to thank you all individually like I normally do- running two fics at once has given me quite some confusion regarding who did what. But I still really appreciate the support you guys have given me! See ya'll next update!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I onoy own the OC. **

It didn't take long for Mikoto to realize she was being used by Coach Araki during her visits to the basketball practices.

It wasn't a big deal at first- just occasionally getting her to help her grab something from the staff room, or just helping to deliver something to another teacher. Simple requests that Mikoto figured she had no right to turn down due to the fact that it was in fact the coach's gym she was spending time in, and that it wasn't really anything too extreme. It was only after the coach started giving her heavier tasks like buying refreshments for the team, watching over practice when she had to go out for a minute, or helping with the club's paperwork (among other things) that Mikoto started to think something was off.

It was on one fine day, when she was watching over the team's warm-up plays while Coach Araki attended a teacher's meeting that it hit Mikoto- weren't all these things supposed to be the tasks of the club manager or something? She wasn't even part of the club! Why was she entrusted with these tasks? Granted, she was free most of the time whenever she hung out around here, but that wasn't any excuse to dump all these jobs on her when she wasn't even in this club to begin with!

As Mikoto silently fumed over this, the sound of the door to the gymnasium opening caught her attention, and the Shirato turned to see the coach walking in, carrying several papers in her hands. As Masako approached, she looked up at Mikoto, her dark eyes as passive as ever.

"Shirato, I need you to send these to my desk for me. I have to watch over the team's two-on-two practice match." Masako informed authoritatively, handing Mikoto the papers while she flipped open her phone to make a note in her planner. The girl didn't even get a chance to respond before the teacher cut her off again. "After that, make sure you get back here- the club's logbook has to be updated."

For the first time since Coach Araki had started asking her to carry out these duties, Mikoto felt a swell of courage. Who was she to order her around? As just a regular student who wasn't a member of the basketball team, there was no reason for her to obey the coach's orders when there should be a manager to carry out these duties! She didn't need to do this!

That's it, this was ending today!

"Sensei-"

"Is there a problem, Shirato?" Coach Araki's eyes shot up from her phone to clash with Mikoto's azure ones, the expression in those dark pupils glinting devilishly with a low, menacing threat. Even her voice was dangerously smooth- as if she sensed Mikoto's defiance and was daring her to act upon it.

...

On second thought, ending it could wait. Mikoto figured she valued her life over her pride.

"...Never mind." Mikoto peeped out sheepishly, turning on her heel and speed-walking out of the gym as she carried the papers to the coach's desk, as ordered. So much for being a rebel- that woman was crazily scary. One would think she was a gang leader or biker chick at some point in her life...

"And oh, Shirato? Pick up some refreshments for the team, too, while you're at it." Coach Araki called out as Mikoto began to back away submissively. Mikoto's eyes flashed in brief hesitation again, but the piercing stare that the coach gave her was too much, and she nodded mutely as she hastily made her escape from Masako's dangerous presence.

Watching the Shirato girl obediently taking her leave- none too quickly, she noted- the coach just smirked lightly and gave a small hum of satisfaction- she hadn't lost her touch, it would seem. Fear commanded respect, after all, and she definitely had no shortage of that. The Shirato was actually very effective at carrying out these little chores- perhaps she should consider assigning her to the job, full-time...

As the coach turned her gaze back to the court to observe her team's progress, she noted that one particular player was staring after the Shirato as she left, amusement dancing in his grey eyes. A small smile tugged at the corners of Himuro's lips as he watched the normally stoic Shirato meekly scampering away, and he looked far too entertained by the whole scene.

Well, well. This was an interesting development.

"Himuro!" The coach barked warningly. "Keep your head in the game!"

* * *

"Excuse me?" Mikoto deadpanned, her face completely slack with disbelief. In front of her stood Himuro, who, despite having just finished the first half of practice, seemed completely relaxed as he used his towel to wipe away his perspiration. He was just wearing his usual half-smile as he looked down at her from where she sat in her usual place in the stands, though Mikoto could have sworn there was a slightly more mischievous gleam in the depths of those silvery pools.

"You're here all the time, anyway." Himuro elaborated, trying to convince the girl to comply to his suggestion. "What's wrong with getting to know the rest of the team more? You've met us all already."

"Meeting and actually wanting to speak with someone are two entirely different things."

"Only if you make it so."

"Did my acceptance of your invitation of friendship somehow give you the wrong impression that I also meant the rest of the team?" Mikoto inquired blandly, clearly unamused by what Himuro was suggesting she should do.

"You said you needed to change somehow, so maybe you could try getting out of your shell." Himuro justified, shrugging. It was true- he was trying to get her to do this partially out of his want to help her... and to pull her out of her hermit-like social life. "You could use a couple more friends."

"I have plenty of friends." Mikoto defended, somewhat miffed at what Himuro was implying about her social circle.

"Name five." Mikoto opened her mouth to respond to Himuro's challenge, before he cut her off again. "Five- that are from this school."

No response. Himuro smirked slightly- her silence spoke for itself. Mikoto just turned her head away, flushing slightly in embarrassment at her defeat.

"Do you always take it upon yourself to push the introvert out of her comfort zone?" Mikoto muttered, sighing as she stood up to comply to Himuro's absurd plan. She would have turned it down, but she was far too proud to show that she couldn't handle this.

"It's more of a pastime." Himuro responded. He then lightly urged the Shirato to go forth, before taking hold of her shoulders from behind as he all but pushed her to her down to the first row of the stands, where the other members of the basketball team where resting.

"H-hey!" Mikoto exclaimed, caught off-guard by his sudden actions. She tried to dig in her heels, but Himuro was a lot stronger, and all he needed to do was apply a bit more force to keep her moving forth to face her doom. "Don't- I really think you should-"

But before she knew it, Mikoto found herself standing before the row of basketball members, all of whom had fallen silent at her sudden appearance. For a moment, they all simply engaged in a staring match between themselves and the Shirato, who looked like she was gradually shrinking under their scrutiny. Mikoto vaguely registered the sound of Himuro emitting a soft bark of laughter at the sudden awkwardness of the situation, and had to physically restrain herself from stomping on his foot.

Stupid, infuriating, beautiful man-

"Er... hi." Mikoto gave a small, awkward wave at the members of the basketball team, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Is there something we can do for you, Shirato-san?" Okamura asked politely, being the first to respond to Mikoto's uncomfortable greeting.

"Um, not exactly..." Mikoto struggled to think up something to say, her heart palpitating in her chest as her nervousness grew. She was terrible with crowds- unless she knew them all personally, she could easily be reduced to a stuttering, estranged wreck...

"So why are you here, then?" Fukui asked directly, either not noticing or not caring about the Shirato's tense demeanour to try and placate her with less hostile words. The Shirato looked like she wanted to disappear just then, and shot Himuro a glare over her shoulder- though it was diminished somewhat by the nervousness in her expression.

"This is your fault." Mikoto accused weakly, her voice almost a hiss. Himuro simply responded with a small, apologetic smile, before he turned back to his teammates once more.

"Come on, guys." He coaxed. "Just work with us here. Small talk, updates, anything."

"Mm, okay." Murasakibara responded once he'd swallowed his chips, before his eyes lazily flickered over to Mikoto. "Not-girlfriend is very strange."

"If I had a penny for every time I heard that name..." Mikoto grumbled under her breath.

"Mine-chin is cooler than you." Murasakibara added cheekily, biting on another chip as he did so. Mikoto just huffed and moved a hand to her forehead to hide the view of her twitching eye, forcing herself not to respond to that. There was no point, she told herself; there was no use, let it slide...

"Shirato, our Physics presentation is due on Friday." Liu spoke, not even bothering to look up as he fixed the laces on his shoes. "Make sure you have your lines memorized."

"Got it..." Mikoto mumbled- she'd been hearing that from Liu for days now, it was almost maddening. It was better than Murasakibara's attempt at conversation, at least...

"Shirato-san, I need an honest opinion from a neutral party." Okamura spoke up all of a sudden, his tone unusually serious. That caught Mikoto's attention immediately- she rarely heard the captain of the basketball team use that tone...

"Sure. What is it?" She nodded, her curiosity piqued. What could he possibly want to ask that had him sounding so solemn? Something about basketball? Political matters? A renowned question of philosophical mystery?

"Am I really that revolting to all females?" Okamura asked, his tone reverting to that of a more hopeful, desperate one- in other words, the kind of tone she was accustomed to hearing from him.

A renowned question of philosophical mystery, indeed.

"Haven't we reaffirmed this fact several times, Okamura?" Fukui snorted, never missing out on a chance for a jab at his captain.

"I didn't ask you!" Okamura retorted, before turning back to Mikoto with a less annoyed expression. "Shirato-san?"

"Well..." Mikoto trailed off for a moment, trying to buy time to contemplate the question- way to put her on the spot. Compared to the other guys on his team, she had to admit that Okamura wasn't the most pleasing to the eye. But even so, he had his own rugged look going on for him, and she was pretty sure Matsuki had the hots for him too, so...

"Okamura-senpai isn't that bad." Mikoto shrugged. Though she meant it as a casual response, with the way Okamura suddenly brightened up and grinned so widely at her, one would think she just told him he won the lottery.

"Really?!" He exclaimed joyously. Were... were those tears of happiness glistening in his eyes?

"Y-Yeah." Mikoto stuttered slightly, somewhat perplexed by the reaction her answer had spurred on. "You're like... a very big teddy bear."

"That's so sweet!" Okamura cried happily, making Mikoto cringe further as she honestly considered walking away right now- she never thought her reply could spur such a response. Okamura seemed oblivious to her disturbed state, and simply turned towards Fukui smugly. "I told you I didn't look like a gorilla!"

"I'm not even sure if that was supposed to be a compliment." Liu muttered, taking a swig from his water bottle nonchalantly. He was used to his teammates' antics.

"I don't think so, too." Murasakibara added blandly.

"Let him have his moment." Mikoto muttered in response, earning a slight snort from Liu and even a small lift at the corners of Murasakibara's lips.

"Shirato, I think you may need to get glasses." Fukui deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at Mikoto while his captain enthused over the compliment (of sorts) that he'd received.

"I can see perfectly fine, thank you." Mikoto huffed defensively. Sure, she did have to use reading glasses, but Fukui didn't need to know that.

"Crazy people always say they're fine. Apparently, the same goes for blind people." Fukui snarked. He didn't wait for a response as he simply threw his towel over his head, rubbing his hair dry.

What Mikoto would give to tie that tongue of his to a lamppost and leave him there-

"Remind me again why I agreed to this, Himuro-kun?" Mikoto asked calmly, turning to face the sooty-haired boy who had been watching the whole scene silently. In response, Tatsuya just gave her another vague smile- though she didn't miss the amused expression in his eyes as he noticed her twitching eye. The sadistic jerkface was _enjoying_ this.

She was going to end up punching him at this rate.

"One step at a time, Shirato-chan." Himuro encouraged calmly, though his voice was underlined with barely concealed amusement. "One step at a time."

* * *

Mikoto grunted as she cast herself from the higher of the uneven parallel bars to the lower one in a straddle back release, before moving into a swing on the low bar again. Gymnastics practice was going well for her so far- no major mess-ups yet. Even so, the new routine she was working on was somewhat challenging for her, and she refused to stop working on it until she got the basics right, at least. It would take at least two weeks to actually get the whole routine down pat, but she was still going to push herself as much as she could.

From her swing, she shifted the position of her hands to maneuver her body into a free hip circle, and then moved to stand on the low bar- her feet stumbled slightly, but she regained her balance well enough. She then moved to a handstand on the high bar again, before casting herself into a long hanging kip. Things were going relatively well far- maybe she could try for a little extra something with her dismount..

_'Come on, come on...'_

Mikoto swung herself in two large swings, building up momentum before she attempted her big finish- she decided she should take Hinata's suggestion into account, just to see how it would go. Once the second swing was completed, Mikoto pushed of, ending with a double flyaway dismount...

That is, it would have been a double flyaway, had it not been for the fact that she failed to complete the second somersault properly. She had mistimed her dismount, and was now moving too far away from the bars and too close to the ground.

Mikoto could only feel annoyance as she realized she wouldn't be able to land on her feet at her failed double flyaway, and she braced herself for the impact of her fall onto the floor. What made her muscles freeze in shock, however, was that she caught a flash of black and white right where she was to land, and the familiar sight of a single, visible eye widening in surprise.

_'Oh sh-!'_

She couldn't watch.

WHAM!

Mikoto slammed ungracefully on top of the victim of her newest accident in a messy heap, her forehead smacking into something solid with enough force to make her head bounce back. The Shirato girl groaned painfully as she just lay there for a moment, too stunned from the fall to register just what was going on. Most fortunately for her, the rest of her body was spared any injury due to her landing had been cushioned by the person she had fallen on top of. Unfortunately for said person... well, that pretty much said it all.

"Y-you're heavier than you look- aren't you, Shirato-chan?" Himuro joked weakly, his voice somewhat strained as he attempted a small chuckle.

"S-sorry!" Mikoto mumbled out quickly, using her elbows to support her as she pushed herself up. However, she stopped short as a sharp pain ran through her skull, causing her to groan again as she touched her forehead- yep, definitely bruised; and from the looks of it, she must have hit it on Himuro's own forehead. Talk about embarrassing. "Ouch."

"You're telling me." Himuro attempted a light smirk, before carefully brushing his hand over his own brow. Thankfully, it didn't feel too bad- Mikoto's head looked like it was suffering worse than his, though.

"What were you doing standing so close to the bars?!" Mikoto accused, her eyes glinting with vague annoyance. Call it his mind acting up after that bump he got on his head, but Himuro couldn't help but admire those dark blue pupils as they stared into his own...

"Sorry about that. I was actually heading towards the seats- didn't expect you to fall." He responded, wearing a placating smile on his face. He had stopped by the gym that day to assist the gymnasts with their refreshments again, but he definitely hadn't been expecting one of said gymnasts to crash onto him- let alone Mikoto. "Shouldn't you be glad I cushioned your fall, though?"

"That's what the mats are for." Mikoto grunted, unwilling to give him credit for that. When her mind finally cleared itself from its blurry state, however, she became all too aware of the fact she was practically lying on top of Himuro, and that the outline of his well-toned physique was far too tangible beneath her to be deemed comfortable.

The Shirato all but leapt onto her feet and off Himuro immediately upon this realization, even shuffling back a few paces for good measure. Himuro blinked in surprise at suddenly having her weight disappear off of him, before noticing the redness that was slowly creeping up Mikoto's neck as she tried fervently to regain her composure.

Oh. Did he just make the serious, cool and composed Mikoto Shirato blush? Well- it looked like that close contact had been a little too close for her liking... not that he himself had minded it. But before he could think of a verbal response to her reaction, however, a new voice interrupted them- one that Himuro recognized as belonging to the captain of the gymnastics team.

"Shirato-chan!" Hinata exclaimed as she ran up to the two teens. Apparently, the accident hadn't escaped the notice of the other team members as well- some of them looked mildly concerned, while the others looked almost envious. Matsuki fell into the former category, and she took Mikoto by the shoulders and examined her junior worriedly. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Matsuki-chan." Mikoto insisted, though she didn't miss how Hinata's eyes widened when her gaze fell upon her forehead. In an attempt to divert the senior's attention elsewhere, Mikoto turned back to the raven-haired boy who was slowly standing up once again. "Himuro-kun?"

"It's alright. I've suffered worse." Himuro wore usual half-smile back on his face as he assured them of his wellbeing. Matsuki wasn't satisfied with the minor distraction, however, as she frowned and pointed directly at Mikoto's forehead.

"Your head's not looking too good, though, Shirato-chan." She tutted worriedly- Hinata was far too motherly, Mikoto mused to herself. "You better get that seen to."

"It's alright-"

"I'll make sure she does." Himuro interjected Mikoto just then, stepping up to the two girls. He placed a hand on Mikoto's shoulder for extra emphasis- the bruise on her forehead was rather bad, and stubbornness on Mikoto's part would do her no good.

"W-what?" Mikoto started, taken aback by Himuro's interruption. Hinata looked somewhat surprised as well, but recovered quickly enough to give Himuro a nod of approval.

"We have a cold pack in the medical kit, you can use that. It's in the locker room." She pointed in the direction of said locker room, ignoring Mikoto's wide-eyed look of apprehension- this was for her own good. She would attend to Mikoto herself, but she needed to keep an eye on the other members as well as work on her own routine.

Plus, she wouldn't mind allowing those two to get some time alone.

"Right. Thank you." Himuro nodded in affirmation, before he lead Mikoto in the direction Matsuki had directed. As she went on her way, Mikoto mouthed the words "I'll kill you" at Hinata accusingly, looking for all the world like she'd been betrayed- not that she was wrong. Hinata, in return, just winked and waved at Mikoto as she was led away, shooting her a sly grin.

Now, they were even.

* * *

"Why does my forehead look like a bruised fruit, while yours looks the same as always?" Mikoto muttered, staring at the nasty bruise on her forehead in the small mirror she'd kept in her bagpack. It was a lot worse than she'd thought- big, purple and downright ugly- and it still throbbed lightly. Sighing, she just turned away from the mirror, facing the boy that had partially been responsible for her current situation. Himuro just shot her a wry smile as he knelt on the floor and opened up the medical kit Hinata had informed them of- he'd insisted that the Shirato sit herself down to rest herself for a while as he sought out the cold pack he had been told about. The injury wasn't so severe that she needed attention from the school nurse, but it wouldn't hurt to try and attend to it on a minor scale.

"I've been told that I have a hard head." Tatsuya chuckled lightly, removing the cold pack from the kit. There was only a slight darkening around the area of impact on his own brow, so he didn't need to do much to his injury.

"Apparently that applies both physically as well as metaphorically." Mikoto scoffed in reply. Himuro just gave a small laugh at that, before activating the cold pack he had retrieved. Without warning, he placed a hand beneath Mikoto's chin to tilt her head up slightly, before brushing away the loose strands of hair from her forehead and placing the pack over her bruise.

"Hold this here. It'll help with the swelling." He advised, his tone surprisingly gentle.

"R-right." Mikoto agreed quickly, taking hold of the pack as Himuro removed his hand. Trying to hide her flustered state, Mikoto simply cleared her throat as she drummed the fingers of her free hand on her knee, trying to change the topic. "In any case, I really am sorry. I have a pretty bad record when it comes to dismounts."

"This isn't the first time this has happened?" Himuro inquired, packing away the medical kit and hanging it back on the wall.

"It's the first time I've landed on someone instead of the floor, if that's what you mean." Mikoto responded sheepishly. That garnered another short laugh from Himuro, and he wore a small smile on his face as he turned towards Mikoto once more.

"Well, I'm sure you've gained something from this experience." He commented lightly.

"Yeah. A huge bump on my forehead." Mikoto responded, tapping the cold pack she was holding against her bruise. That was a mistake, though- she winced slightly at the pain the light impact caused.

"But it did little to affect your wit, it would seem." Himuro smirked, before he noted her wince and reverted back to being concerned as he knelt in front of her in mild worry. "Does it hurt that badly? Do you need to take some painkillers?"

"No, it's alright. Just a small sting." Mikoto replied, waving off his offer. There wasn't much need for that- it wasn't that painful.

"Hang on, let me try something." Himuro suggested, gently coaxing her to remove the pack from her head briefly. He then brought his hands up and placed his thumbs just outside the bruise's radius, carefully applying pressure as he circled his thumbs slowly around the area.

"What-" Mikoto flinched at the sharp pain that ran through her scalp at the initial contact, but after a moment, the pain faded away and became more subdued. She fell silent immediately as Himuro continued to rub her temple, suddenly overwhelmed by the soothing effect it had.

"They say massaging is good for the blood flow around bruised areas." Himuro explained, sparing a brief glance at Mikoto. "Is it working?"

"Mm." Mikoto hummed in response, not bothering to reply with whole sentences. This felt really good...

Himuro found himself giving a small smile when Mikoto's eyes fell shut for a moment, seemingly absorbed in the effects of the massage. She looked a lot less tense and serious this way- just like she had when he caught her laughing last week. After a couple more minutes, Himuro finally retracted his hands from their work, gaining a hint of satisfaction when he saw a brief flash of disappointment in Mikoto's eyes as she reopened them.

"That should do it for now." Himuro concluded as he stood up once again. "But just in case, you should take it easy now. I'm sure your captain won't mind if you leave early today."

"She'd probably drag me back home herself if I tried to stay longer." Mikoto agreed, shuddering at the thought. Hinata could be almost overbearingly maternal when she wanted to be- she wouldn't let Mikoto back on the bars even if the world was ending.

"That's good, then." Himuro nodded to himself. That earned a raised eyebrow from Mikoto, and he quickly explained himself. "At least you can get the rest you need."

"I'd best inform her, though-" Mikoto started to say as she stood up, though she was interrupted by Himuro once again.

"Don't trouble yourself." He assured, patting her shoulder kindly. "I'll go tell her- you should go change first."

Mikoto just stared at Tatsuya for a moment- not in apprehension or suspicion, but in honest surprise. It was as if the weight of everything that had just happened- and had been happening throughout the past week ever since her outing with him- suddenly hit her, and she found herself stumped. The way Himuro was interacting with her, and the concern he expressed now...

This... was what friendship was like.

"...Thank you, Himuro-kun." Mikoto thanked sincerely, though for once, she found herself unable to meet his eye as she ducked her head. Even though it was something as small as this... she found herself immensely touched at what he was doing for her. She'd almost forgotten what it was like- having a close friend like this. While part of her mind nagged at her subconscious, mockingly warning her that befriending this guy would only end up just like the last time... she wanted to be able to trust him. She wanted to be able to have an actual friend again.

She was tired of isolating herself.

"It's not a problem." Himuro smiled lightly, turning to head out of the locker rooms. Mikoto just smiled to herself as she walked over to her locker to retrieve her usual school uniform, but before she could head to the changing rooms...

"Hey, Shirato-chan."

"Hm?" Mikoto glanced back to see that Himuro had only just opened the door to the locker room, having paused right before he could exit. "What is it?"

"Given the situation... could it be said that you fell for me?" Himuro asked innocently, though his visible eye was brimming with mischief.

...

Himuro exited and shut the door to the locker rooms just in time to block the shoe Mikoto aimed at his head.

* * *

**AN: I live for destroying the comfortability of my OCs' lives I am not sorry. Just a note- while Hinata is one year Mikoto's senior, she doesn't address her with the '-senpai' suffix. Though they aren't exactly BFFs, they're still familiar enough with each other to drop the more formal titles. Hope that clears things up! **

**Anyhoo- shout out to PhoenixRage92, RomanticKissez, Hind-x, SelenaAthene, Forgotten Cross, chupamaflaba, Shaine26, anomaly1, Ruby Calendula, Harukawa Ayame, LeoInuyaka **(omg you can't tell but I'm having a total 'senpai noticed me' moment asdfghjkl YOUR WORKS ARE AMAZE KTHX. I'm so honoured 8'D) ,** Shivi,Cii-Chan, becky157689, leroalice, Arcee-chan,YoshidaYukio, gOthiCkUrOcHo69, koreanlover21873, and madhatterthefifth for being aweseome! Thanks for all your support, guys- hope you liked this chapter! ;D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basket or any of its characters. Everything belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I only**** own the OC.**

Graduation day. A day that was filled with students that would suddenly be overwhelmed by nostalgia at realizing that their days in the same school were over, who normally ended up weeping their hearts out as they lamented all the lost opportunities and youthful days. There were of course those who were noticeably less emotional about such an occasion- some of whom would either be attempting to seem cool and nonchalant when inside they were secretly bawling, or those who honestly couldn't wait to be over with the hellish school days. Most of the time, such activities would be carried out in groups- after all, misery loves company- and it was rare that any student would choose to spend their graduation day alone.

Mikoto was one of these rarities on the day of her middle school graduation.

The Shirato simply stood by her lonesome on the rooftop of Teiko Middle School, sapphire eyes gazing monotonously out at the scenery of the town. As soon as she'd gotten her graduation certificate and taken a couple of pictures- with a carefully plastered-on smile, might she add- she'd pretty much hightailed it out of the main hall, not exactly eager to stay around such a huge crowd of people for longer than necessary.

That, and also because she had no intention of seeing any of the Teiko basketball team's players on her last day of middle school if she could help it. Or- as they were better known as now- the Generation of Miracles.

Mikoto scoffed at the thought- how pretentious. She would not deny their skills in the field of the sport, but ever since they had been granted that title, it was like everything had gone downhill from there. One by one, the members began to turn their backs- though on the court they were known as a team, their play was so far from the definition of the word it was laughable. The worst part of it was that only people who still cared about the concept of teamwork and unity were those who couldn't do anything about it, no matter how hard they tried.

The atmosphere of warmth and happiness in that team had long since dissipated. All of them had changed- not even Momoi was spared completely. Gone were the days they used to get together and hang out after practice, or the days when they used to laugh together as they jested and fooled around with each other.

It both hurt and comforted Mikoto when she thought of those simpler times. Simple things- like how Akashi used to be kind, or how she used to be able to speak easily with Midorima- would be enough to warm her heart and break it at the same time. She remembered how Kise used to be the one that brought his sunny and lighthearted aura, how Kuroko used to stand by their side as the shadow that lifted them to victory... how Daiki used to smile.

Halfway through her last year of middle school, Mikoto had been unable to take it any longer, and had halted all her duties towards the team. She had been the first- Kuroko followed not long after. Though Momoi had stayed on, it could safely be said that even she couldn't feel the spirit of belonging to the team anymore.

Unconsciously, Mikoto's eyes drifted towards the leather straps around her wrist, her jaw clenching as she stared at her gift; the gift that she had received from those she had thought of as her nearest and dearest friends- her family, even. Back then, she had honestly believed that things would never change for them- that they would always remain close no matter what. But after Daiki's awakening, it had only a matter of time before all of them followed suit.

This gift was a mockery- a cruel reminder of all that she had lost.

Gritting her teeth, Mikoto yanked off her bracelet, not caring the least about what the sudden force and tension might do to the accessory. Clutching the leather band in her hand, Mikoto raised her arm, preparing to throw the bracelet off the building where, hopefully, she would never have to see it again. She wanted to get rid of this- to get rid of her ties to that team and to that cruel past. But no matter how much she willed herself to; no matter how she tried to force her arm to just let the item fly...

_"I'll always wear this from now on."_

The hand that gripped the bracelet began to shake- lightly at first, and then it trembled such that Mikoto was forced to lower her arm. She clutched at the shaking limb with her free one, but it was no use, the shaking didn't go away. If anything, it seemed to spread throughout her body, and before she knew it, she was on her knees, hugging herself tightly as if she could somehow stop herself from falling apart. No matter how hard she tried to hold them back, the tears still leaked through and coarsed down her face as she wept silently, allowing herself this moment of self-pity and mourning.

The memory of her birthday surprise, which had once been such a joyous occasion for her- it had even been held on this very same rooftop- was now a cold taunt of what she used to have, rubbing in the fact that they all really had changed and that she would never get those days back. And yet, she couldn't even throw her damned bracelet away. She had become attached, and even when they'd hurt her, she still couldn't let go.

Even when there was nothing left to cling to.

As she remembered the wish she had made on the day of that surprise party- that they would always remain together- Mikoto emitted a watery laugh through her tears. She had been such a fool- so naive to believe in such stupid things. Wishes didn't come true. They only fed her false hopes- building up her faith and then crushing it into nothing. Wishes made her believe that they were special and would never let her down... and then they betrayed that trust. Wishes were lies.

Just like they were.

* * *

*****Present day*****

Mikoto hesitated as she raised a hand to the doorbell, biting her cheek as her eyes darted back to the front door of the two-storey house before her. It was finally the day she would have to go about her task of tutoring Murasakibara, and while she knew she had already arranged this lesson, she honestly considered backing away and telling Atsushi to postpone their lessons to another day. But then again, she had to do this sooner or later, so she might as well get it over with. Taking a deep breath, Mikoto began to press her finger down on the doorbell...

Only to have the door swing open just before she could ring the bell, nearly smacking into her. Thankfully, all those gymnastics lessons had managed to give Mikoto rather quick reflexes, and she leapt back just in time to avoid getting her face flattened. She really didn't want another bruise to add on to the one on her forehead.

"Can I help you?" A young woman- probably in her early twenties- greeted as she stood in the open doorway, one hand on the doorknob and another on her hip. Mikoto couldn't help but repress a gulp upon seeing the lavender-haired woman- this lady was a giant! She had to be at least two heads taller than Mikoto!

"Uhm, h-hello." Mikoto cleared her throat lightly, before bowing towards the lady. "I'm Murasakibara-kun- uhm, Atsushi-san's schoolmate."

"Atsushi?" The lady raised a brow, her bunned head tilting to the side as she scrutinized Mikoto nonchalantly. Judging from her youth, Mikoto assumed that this must be Murasakibara's sister. "He didn't mention any guests."

"Well, I'm sort of his tutor, actually." Mikoto corrected, as she awkwardly adjusted the strap of her book bag.

"Tutor?" All of a sudden, the lady's eyes widened, and her relaxed posture striaghtened up immediately. "Chibi's been slipping in his grades again?!"

"C-chibi?" Mikoto sweatdropped. That was the last word she'd ever use to describe Murasakibara...

"Hey, Daisuke!" The lady called over her shoulder, her voice strict. "Get Chibi down here, now!" After another voice- this one distinctly male- replied with a "Got it!", the woman turned back to Mikoto, and smiled sweetly at the increasingly awkward girl. "I'm sorry, would you like to come in, Miss..?"

"Oh. I'm Mikoto Shirato." The brunette introduced quickly.

"Right. Shirato-san, please come in." The woman nodded, opening the door and gesturing for her to enter. Mikoto did as she was told, and was lead to the living room of the household by the young woman. The place was a lot neater than Mikoto had expected, honestly- not that she assumed that Murasakibara lived in a pigsty or anything, but given his laid back personality, she would have expected at least a bit of disorder somewhere. This place was almost... immaculately pristine.

She liked it. A lot.

"You can take a seat while you wait for Chibi to come down." The voice of her host snapped Mikoto's attention away from her observations of the household, and she looked over to see the woman patting a high-backed chair that sat against the wall. The living room was rather orderly- the main couch sat facing the television, while the other seats were arranged around that main setting. Sitting on the main couch was another young man that seemed to be absorbed in some sort of nature programme as he munched on a packet of chips, who bore short, rumpled hair and eyes that were of the same violet shade as the woman's. Even though he was hunched over on the couch, it was clear that he was still very tall.

"Alrght." Mikoto nodded, accepting the seat she was offered. Once she had seated herself down, the woman sat on the couch where the young man sat, prompting him to scoot over. He seemed to be several years younger than the woman, and his eyes never even left the screen for a moment as he made space for his sister to sit down.

"I'm Eiko Murasakibara. Oldest of the Murasakibara siblings." The woman introduced herself, before placing a hand on the already messy head of the man to her left. "This one's Junichi- he came along before Atsushi. Second in line is Daisuke- he went to get Chibi for us."

"'Sup." Junichi greeted curtly, not even sparing a glance at Mikoto. Now this one, Mikoto could believe was related to Atsushi. Eiko seemed completely different from her schoolmate- she had a feeling it was mostly thanks to her that this house was so neat and orderly.

"It's nice to meet you." Mikoto bowed respectfully. "I was unaware that Murasakibara-kun had siblings."

"We don't talk about each other much." Eiko shrugged, leaning back in her seat and making herself comfortable.

"I can see that." Mikoto chuckled politely, but before she could converse any further, a familiar voice interrupted her.

"Not-girlfriend." Atsushi greeted all of a sudden from beside Mikoto's seat, nearly making her jump in surprise. Looking up so far she had to crane her neck back, she met Atsushi's passive gaze with a startled one of her own. "What are you doing here?"

"Study session, remember?" She reminded, standing up so that she didn't have to strain her neck so much to look at him. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted another boy with slicked back, violet hair heading into the kitchen of the house- Daisuke, she assumed. "We were supposed to start today."

"We were?" Murasakibara raised a lazy eyebrow. "I forgot."

Mikoto's cheek twitched. She'd had a bad feeling he would have forgotten, but before she could respond...

"Oh, Chibi~" Eiko sang sweetly, suddenly appearing beside her youngest brother. Even though she was still shorter than Murasakibara, she was still tall enough to reach up and easily grab his ear, pulling it such that he began to bend towards her. "You didn't tell me you were slipping in your grades~"

"Ow. That hurts." Atsushi whined weakly, though his expression remained mostly deadpan. Mikoto had a feeling he got this lecture quite often...

"What did I tell you about making sure your grades don't fall?" Eiko reminded knowingly, her tone still dangerously sweet.

"That you'll ban my snacks if I don't do well." Murasakibara responded blandly, though his eyes seemed to droop slightly at the reminder. It was almost enough to make Mikoto feel sorry for him.

"Exactly." Eiko concluded in satisfaction. She finally released her brother's ear once that was over, and Atsushi straightened up again as he rubbed at his sore ear- his sister was a dictator. "So make sure you study hard while Shirato-san teaches you, okay?"

"Fine..." He mumbled in response,

"Atsushi has a study desk in his room." Eiko explained on her brother's behalf, nodding towards the staircase. "You're free to use whatever you need."

"Okay. Thank you, Eiko-san." Mikoto bowed again gratefully, before following after Atsushi as he headed up the stairs. She had to admit- she really didn't want to spend more time around Eiko than necessary, or to get on her bad side. That woman was scarily intimidating- she reminded Mikoto a lot of Coach Araki. Poor Atsushi- having to deal with two dragon ladies in his life...

When she saw Atsushi's room, Mikoto nearly had doubled over in shock. It was... perfectly clean. The bed was made neatly, while the books on study desk opposite it were arranged in an orderly fashion. No spare clothes were tossed over the dresser or the chairs, and not a single thing was out of place- there wasn't even anything strewn under the bed!

Was this the right room?

"This is your bedroom?" Mikoto asked, unable to hide the disbelief in her voice.

"Onee-chan doesn't let me eat snacks in here if I don't keep it clean." Atsushi grumbled in response.

"Oh." Well that made sense, then. With Murasakibara's permit, Mikoto allowed herself to enter the room. Though she would admit she did feel a bit uncomfortable being in the same room alone with a guy, she had to thank all those years of hanging out in Daiki's own room that had prepared to face this kind of situation without running in the opposite direction.

That, and she had pepper spray in her bag in case anything funny was attempted. And a pocket knife. And a knuckle duster. One could never be too safe.

"So," Mikoto put on her reading glasses as she and Murasakibara sat at the study table in the room, the latter leaning his head in his hand as he propped his elbow on the table. "In any case, we should begin. I'll be teaching you for two hours. Where do you keep your exercise books?"

"I don't have any." Murasakibara responded simply, reaching into the drawer in the desk as he drew out a candy bar- seriously, did this guy ever stop eating?

"What?" Mikoto exclaimed, her expression disbelieving. Had she heard right?

"I don't have any exercise books." Murasakibara repeated, opening his candy bar and munching on it as he mumbled. "English is boring."

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

"That's it, then. Do you have any questions about what I just taught you?" Mikoto finished as she explained the differences between terms in the English language. Despite Murasakibara not having any books, Mikoto had brought a few books of her own to compensate for the lack of study material.

"Nope." Murasakibara replied, munching on a bar of chocolate- he'd finished up his candy bar earlier, and Mikoto figured that there was no way to stop him from eating while she taught, anyway. As long as he paid attention, she was alright with it- he seemed to be quite the good listener, actually. Maybe this wasn't too bad...

"Alright. Try out this worksheet, then." Mikoto directed, handing said worksheet to the boy. He obediently heeded her order, and once he was done, he handed it back to her.

Mikoto nearly had a heart attack from all the questions he'd gotten wrong.

"Well..." Mikoto stated slowly, unsure how to react to this turn of events. Deciding to start with the first question he'd gotten wrong, Mikoto corrected his mistake. "First off, this is a pronoun, not a noun, Murasakibara-kun."

"Oh."

"Do you know the difference?" Mikoto asked skeptically upon his brief response. Murasakibara just shrugged.

"Not really."

"Like I mentioned earlier," Mikoto explained patiently. "A pronoun is shorthand for a noun already mentioned or implied. A noun is how you refer to a specific person, place, or thing. Understand?"

"Hm..." Atsushi looked thoughtful for a moment, as if thinking about what she'd said. He looked like he was beginning to understand, and just when Mikoto thought she'd made some progress...

"Nope." Atsushi shrugged. "I still don't get it."

...

Tatsuya Himuro's attention was diverted from his novel as his cellphone started ringing, his musical ringtone breaking the silence. Perplexed at suddenly receiving a call- he didn't get those often- he rolled onto his side as he lay on his bed, reaching into his pocket as he took out the slim cellphone.

_'Mikoto Shirato_'

Well, this was unexpected.

"Hello?" Himuro greeted as he answered the call, his curiosity piqued. If he was correct, Mikoto should be at Atsushi's place now, attending to his tutoring. She shouldn't be calling now... unless of course, she was learning just how difficult a student Atsushi could be when the wrong approach was used...

"Himuro-kun, if you don't get here this instant I will hunt you down and drag you here myself." Came the nearly desperate voice that Himuro recognized as belonging to the Shirato girl.

Himuro's lips twitched into a smile. Chalk one up to him again.

"I'll be right there."

* * *

"Okay, next we have adjectives," Himuro stated in his calm, patient voice as he sat in another chair next to Murasakibara, his pen hovering over the subject he was teaching as he elaborated. "An adjective is used to describe things. Take for example... Atsushi, how would you describe chu-chu popsicles?"

"Sugary." Murasakibara replied almost immediately.

"Exactly." Himuro affirmed. "'Sugary' is an adjective- like 'sweet', or 'crunchy' and lots of others. So if you translate it to English..."

"Like this?" Murasakibara asked as he voluntarily wrote out the translations of said adjectives, all with the right spelling and grammar. His affinity for spelling words that he was used to associating with his snacks definitely came a lot easier to him compared to other words, it would seem...

"Perfect." Himuro nodded in satisfaction, before turning to the Shirato seated on Murasakibara's other side. "See? It's not that difficult."

Mikoto just mumbled something in response, but Himuro was relatively sure that he caught the word "prick" somewhere in there.

"Muro-chin's teachings are easier than Not-girlfriend's." Murasakibara drawled simply as he proceeded to work on another worksheet. "She uses too many fancy verbs."

"Whatever." Mikoto grumbled and turned her head away, hiding the sight of her scowl. She so did not use 'too many fancy verbs'!

"Well, at least he knows what a verb is- isn't that right, Shirato-chan?" Himuro commented. Despite the nonchalance of his voice, Mikoto just knew that he was fighting back a smirk, even without looking at him. Restraining a sigh of frustration, the Shirato lightly rubbed her at her temple with her free hand, hiding the sight of her twitching eye as she did so. She really should consider taping her eyelid in place to stop it from doing that... Or to throw these two guys out the window. That would settle the problem, too...

"So just to round up- Atsushi, why don't you give me another adjective for, let's say... Shirato-chan."

"Bossy."

"Very good. Now, on to the next one..."

If she was going to commit homicide, she had better do it before she pulled out all her hair first.

* * *

"What does this word mean?" Atsushi inquired through a mouthful of potato chips as he pointed at the word he was referring to, prompting Mikoto to lean over to read what he was asking about.

"Oh, '_demolish_'." Mikoto read aloud before she elaborated. "It means to tear down, like for buildings and construction, but it can be applied to other areas as well."

"So..." Murasakibara mused for a moment, before suddenly clamping a hand on Mikoto's head, startling the girl. Looking up to meet his eye, she tensed up when she observed his lethargic gaze, her discomfort becoming even more evident when he drawled out...

"_I'll demolish you_." He threatened in a solemn voice. Despite his somewhat poorly-pronounced English, his words were still clearly understandable. Mikoto was inclined to believed he was serious for a moment... until his voice suddenly lightened up and he continued. "Is that correct?"

"U-uh, yeah. I suppose you could do that." Mikoto stuttered out. "But let's just reserve it for buildings, alright?"

"Okay." Murasakibara shrugged in response, removing his hand from the Shirato's dark head as he proceeded to continue answering his worksheet. Mikoto just stared at the giant boy with a deadpan expression, feeling whiplash from his sudden change of demeanour. This guy...

"Breathe, Shirato-chan." Himuro reminded Mikoto quietly as he patted her shoulder, though she could hear the entertainment in his voice. "He wasn't serious."

"I know that." Mikoto snapped curtly.

Well, now she did, at least.

* * *

"Well, we'd best be on our way then." Himuro bowed towards the hostess of the Murasakibara household after he and Mikoto had finished their third weekly lesson with Atsushi, the Shirato mimicking his movements as she stood next to him. "Thank you for having us again, Eiko-san."

"Hang on just a sec." Eiko interrupted suddenly as Mikoto and Himuro made to head towards the front door, suddenly halting the two teens' movements by clamping her hands down on their heads. It was a rather easy feat for her to do, given that she was taller than both of them, and she spun them back around to face her before placing her hands on her hips. "We've prepared extra food for dinner tonight- you two are joining us."

"Oh, we don't mean to impose-"

"You two are joining us for dinner." Eiko repeated, successfully cutting Mikoto off before she could finish. Eiko wore a wide smile on her face- one that was eerily threatening despite how it looked. "Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Both Mikoto and Himuro responded immediately- the latter with noticeably less fear and meekness than Mikoto. He was used to these sort of women after all those days of training with Coach Araki.

As the two guests sat at the table in the dining hall of the house, Himuro took the seat next to Atsushi, Mikoto in turn sitting next to him as well. Opposite them sat the three other siblings of the Murasakibara quartet, and in between them sat mountains of food that were laid out across the table. It was like a feast for giants instead of humans... not that it was wrong to define it as such.

"This is... an interesting turn of events." Himuro commented nonchalantly, though Mikoto didn't miss the slight hesitation in his voice as he stared at the large spread before him the table. She didn't blame him- she was a bit intimidated, herself.

"Tell me about it." Mikoto muttered under her breath, before remembering her manners and turning to face her hosts once more. "We thank you for having us."

"Don't be so formal. It's the least we can do for someone who's helping out Atsushi." Daisuke replied graciously, wearing a small smile on his face. During the past couple of weeks since she'd started teaching Murasakibara, Mikoto had noticed that Daisuke was actually a lot like his sister- more levelheaded and calm compared to his other male siblings. Of course, height-wise all of them were more or less the same- these guys had really, really prominent height genes, it would seem...

"We're glad to hear that." Himuro nodded politely, his manners as immaculate as ever.

"You're from Atsushi's middle school, right?" Daisuke asked Mikoto casually as he passed around the bowls of rice for the meal- both Mikoto and Himuro had to pass theirs back to reduce the portions; the kids in this family could really eat.

"Yes. That's right." Mikoto responded.

"That's strange. I've never really seen you around the couple of times I met Chibi's friends." Eiko commented.

"We weren't very well acquainted." Mikoto explained. It was true- out of all the members of the Teiko basketball team, she had spent the least amount of time in Atsushi's company. Heck, she doubted she had even exchanged more than two sentences with him throughout their three years of middle school, which was ironic, given that she had known the guy's diet and nutritional needs in and out due to her old 'job'...

"I see."

"You know, you look a bit like one of his old teammates." The second oldest of the siblings- Junichi- added, brushing back his long bangs as he spoke through a mouthful of food. Despite his lethargic appearance, he was actually quite observant- a lot like Atsushi. "Hm, What's the guy's name... Hey, Atsushi. What's that ganguro friend of yours called?"

"He's not really a ganguro..." Mikoto defended weakly, not missing the small smirk that Himuro attempted to hide with a hand. To be honest, she did have to admit that Daiki did somewhat resemble a ganguro with his dark skin, but that was where the similarities ended. She was just fortunate that her own skin wasn't that dark- it was lighter than Daiki's, but not as fair as most of her other friends were- lest she be placed under that same category as well...

"Mine-chin." Murasakibara replied easily.

"Yep. That guy." Junichi confirmed, finally swallowing his food. "The eyes match."

"And that snooty look." Murasakibara added, though his words were muffled as he spoke while gnawing on the fried chicken leg he had acquired.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, Chibi." Eiko reprimanded, shooting her brother a stern look. Though Eiko had taken quite a bit of food for herself as well, she was the most well-mannered and refined as she ate compared to her other siblings- save for maybe Daisuke, who was a close second.

"It's true." Atsushi justified, not bothering to add on to that as he refocused his attention on his food again.

"Not a single word, Himuro-kun." Mikoto hissed under her breath to the boy next to her, who just exhaled shortly through his nose in response and put on his usual, mysterious smile.

"I wasn't going to say anything." He shrugged, before they all proceeded to eat their meals in relative silence. For a while, Mikoto honestly thought that was the end of all conversation between everyone seated at the table until they finished their food...

But of course, the world loved to prove her wrong.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Eiko inquired casually.

Mikoto nearly choked on her food.

"E-excuse me?" The Shirato coughed out, managing to swallow before she could damage her windpipe.

"You know," Eiko gestured to Mikoto and Himuro. "You two. How long have you been going out?"

"Not-girlfriend is too prissy for that." Atsushi scoffed, not bothering to sugarcoat his words.

"I'm not prissy!" Mikoto snapped, before gaining her composure and addressing Eiko in a more polite manner. "And I'm afraid you misunderstand our relationship, Eiko-san."

"Really?"

"Unfortunately so." Himuro responded before Mikoto could answer, earning a surprised look from the girl. To further increase her disbelief, Himuro sighed as he continued his absurd statement. "She denies any form of attraction towards me, but I like to believe my persistence will pay off someday."

Mikoto stomped on Himuro's foot beneath the table. The cheeky jerk didn't even flinch.

"So it's one of those like-dislike conflict kind of relationship, huh?" Junichi snorted. "Typical."

"More or less." Himuro agreed.

"Mostly less." Mikoto retorted.

"Just hang in there, Himuro-san." Daisuke commented encouragingly. "She'll give in eventually."

"No one's 'giving in' to anything." Mikoto deadpanned, her eye starting to twitch again. Damn that Himuro and his ability to sway others to his side with his beguiling ways...

"Denial doesn't do anyone any good, Shirato-san." Eiko tutted sympathetically.

"I'm not in denial!"

"That just proves it right." Atsushi jested, just as entertained by the situation as Himuro was.

Mikoto was pretty sure she was going to die of high blood pressure before these lessons were over.

* * *

"Move faster!" Coach Araki ordered, her expression firm as she brandished her shinai in a gesture of authority. The members of the basketball team were currently warming up with their regular laps around the gym, and she would prefer it if they would waste less time on warm ups and more time on actual playing- hence the directives she was giving them. "The Interhigh prelims are in less than a month! Now is not the time to slack off!"

"Yes, ma'am!" The members responded immediately, picking up the pace as they were ordered. The coach seemed satisfied with that, but wasn't allowed much time to enjoy it as her phone vibrated in her pocket, alerting her to a new message. Drawing out her cellphone, the coach's eyes quickly scanned the text she had received, before she clicked her tongue in annoyance.

"Another meeting..." She muttered to herself, sighing as she placed the phone back in her pocket. She then turned to face Mikoto, who sat on the benches and was handling some of the team's usual reports, and called out to her. "Shirato, I need you to overlook the rest of the regimen."

"Understood, coach." Mikoto responded without hesitation, immediately placing aside the paperwork as she got back on her feet. After several weeks of dealing with these kind of orders, Mikoto was- begrudgingly- getting used to it. It was annoying, but really, what other choice did she have? Granted, she would admit that she found herself getting rather attached to this job and was rather accustomed to the club's atmosphere already, but it was still frustrating that she was dragged into it against her own will.

Nodding in satisfaction, Masako simply turned around and walked out of the gym, her heels making a clacking sound with each step she took. As soon as the door closed behind her, however, some of the members of the team's second string suddenly took it as a sign to be able to relax a bit, and emitted a sigh of relief as they slowed their pace to catch their breaths...

Unfortunately, that was a mistake.

"Hey! You first-years!" Mikoto's sharp voice suddenly caught said members off-guard, and they froze up in fear when they saw the dangerous expression on the Shirato's face as she barked out her orders. "You heard the coach! No slacking off! Move it!"

They didn't need to be reminded again- they just ran.

"Geez," Fukui huffed as the members that had just been reprimanded began to catch up to the first string members again- apparently, they weren't too eager to test Mikoto's patience. "She's starting to sound more and more like Coach Araki each day. Maybe she'll become the miniature version of her or something."

"I would prefer it if that were not the case." Liu commented. Though his voice was as monotonous as ever, there was a hint of apprehension underlining it as he voiced his opinion.

"That's a scary thought..." Okamura shuddered.

"She already limited my snacks during our lessons." Murasakibara lamented poutingly.

"For real?!" Okamura exclaimed in surprise. Separating Atsushi from his sweets... trying to drown a goldfish would be easier.

"Actually, she just got his sister to do it." Himuro corrected. It was no wonder that it worked- Eiko Murasakibara was a terrifying lady that no man in his right mind would defy.

"Oh, that makes more sense."

"Hey, quit slowing down!" The Shirato's voiced ordered once more, the gradually slowing pace of the members as they conversed not escaping her notice. "We're killing time here- work those legs!"

"Yes ma'am!" They all responded automatically.

Perhaps Fukui's comment about a Mini-Araki wasn't quite wrong, after all.

* * *

"So once you have the idea for a topic," Mikoto elaborated as she drew a circle around the mind map she had drawn, advising Atsushi on writing his essays. "You just need to ask yourself these questions when you write so that you can include more things."

"But they're obvious." Murasakibara protested. The usual "5 Ws and 1 H" theory seemed pointless to him, really- it was just so basic.

"Even so, you can still use them to give you ideas on what more to write." Himuro justified on Mikoto's behalf, knowing that Atsushi was more likely to be convinced by him instead of the Shirato. He had noticed that Murasakibara was somewhat stubborn and a bit reluctant to accept Mikoto's approaches- not that it was his fault; the Shirato seemed to share the sentiment. If it wasn't for his presence here the past couple of lessons, Himuro doubted that these two would have made any progress whatsoever.

"Sometimes teachers just like seeing more words in the essay. Makes it look intellectual." Mikoto shrugged.

"That's how it is?" Murasakibara arched an eyebrow skeptically.

"It is kind of true." Mikoto responded sheepishly. Though she knew what she just worded didn't exactly present a good image for the education system's grading scheme, but she just couldn't really explain the logic behind the way some essays were marked either. "Just make sure you have good grammar to go with it and you're pretty much settled."

"Never thought I'd hear someone like you admit that." Himuro commented idly. Mikoto just brushed it off- his jests were a lot easier to handle, recently. She was probably growing accustomed to it.

"Try it out, Murasakibara-kun." Mikoto suggested, retrieving a new sheet of paper and scrawling out a title at the top before handing it to the violet-haired boy. "Here's a topic- just write one paragraph and let's see how it goes."

"_Radioactivity?_" Himuro read over Murasakibara's shoulder, his tone evicting vague surprise.

"It's not a normal topic, I will admit, but I heard you're good with Physics." Mikoto explained, directing the statement at Murasakibara, whose eyes were fixated on the title she had written out. "I figured you'd like to write on something you're more interested in."

"Can I write a whole essay?" Murasakibara suddenly asked, lifting his eyes to Mikoto's face. The question seemed to startle Mikoto, and she couldn't stop the surprise from showing on her face- that was a much better response than she'd expected.

"O-oh." Mikoto stuttered a little, before she reigned in her disbelief to appear nonchalant again. "Yeah. You can go right ahead."

"Yay~" Atsushi hummed, his tone almost happy as a lazy smile graced his features. As he began to write out the first paragraph, he paused for a moment as he thought about something, his lips falling into a frown. "Hm, how do you say 'disintegration' in English?"

"You should use your dictionary for that." Mikoto tapped on the dictionary on the study table- that seemed to be the only book Murasakibara had that was related to English. "You just look up the kanji for it, and then you search for the word you need."

"But it's troublesome. Can't you just tell me how to spell it?"

"How are you going to learn anything if I feed you the answers? You have to take the initiative."

"Don't wanna."

"Fine." Mikoto huffed impatiently, reaching into her bag and drawing out a small, electronic device. "If you don't want to use the traditional dictionary, then I'll lend you my digital one."

"Still troublesome."

"Oh come on!"

Himuro couldn't help but give a small chuckle at the scene before him, clearly amused by the interaction between the two teens from such different worlds. Yet despite the difference in their natures and habits, and their constant bickers, Himuro observed that there seemed to be a small change happeneing each time they interacted- like something was falling into place. With each banter, they somehow seemed to be less antagonistic towards each other, as if the walls were somehow being broken down with each conversation. It was a lot like the development of his own friendship with Mikoto, though in a more... abrasive way.

Perhaps this would turn out a lot better than he'd thought.

* * *

"So the word 'fancy' can apply to many things, besides a description for elaborate things."

"This one says that it can be used for attraction." Murasakibara pointed out as Mikoto explained the word to him, gesturing to the second definition the dictionary stated. After much coaxing and promises for allowing more snack times during their lessons, Atsushi had finally agreed to using the dictionary for other purposes besides just a desk ornament for the past few lessons. And if it wasn't Mikoto's imagination, she was pretty sure that Atsushi was improving rather steadily with his proficiency in this subject, as well.

"That's another use for it." Mikoto agreed. "An example of a sentence would be something like..."

"'_Mikoto fancied Tatsuya since she first laid eyes on him_'." Himuro added when Mikoto paused to think of a sentence, much to Mikoto's annoyance.

"Could you have thought of a worse example?" She deadpanned, turning to face the raven-haired boy who was lying back comfortably on the bed that lay opposite the desk, tossing a rubix cube up in the air before catching it again repeatedly.

"Ah, I understand now." Atsushi nodded.

"Don't just agree with it like that..." Mikoto sighed, not even bothering to retort properly. She really shouldn't be used to this by now, but she was.

"When was the last time you even 'fancied' a guy, anyway?" Himuro inquired curiously as he sat up on the bed.

"Not the point." Mikoto responded shortly.

"Kuro-chin."

"Who?" Himuro started upon Atsushi's sudden statement, not missing the way Mikoto suddenly froze up when she heard that name. The Shirato spun around to face the underclassman with daggers in her eyes, but Tatsuya also noted the fact that her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment.

"Be quiet!" Mikoto hissed, boring holes into Atsushi's head with her glare. However, Murasakibara didn't even blink as he continued to fill out his exercise, pretending not to notice her mortification.

"Who's 'Kuro-chin'?" Himuro repeated inquiringly. Now this was interesting...

"My old teammate." Atsushi answered without hesitation.

"Stop telling him things!" Mikoto cried insistently, her voice growing desperate.

"She joined the library committee just to get close to Kuro-chin." Atsushi continued, clearly not caring about Mikoto's growing panic.

"How would you know that?" Himuro asked. If he and Mikoto hadn't been well acquainted in middle school, it was odd that he would know these kind of things.

"Mine-chin used to tease Kuro-chin about it." Atsushi shrugged. Ah, that explained things...

"He what?!" Mikoto exclaimed, her face growing beet red as she heard this revelation. However, her indignance was replaced by shock when something suddenly crossed her mind. "Wait... S-Satsuki-chan was never around when he did, was she?" She asked worriedly, her eyes wide.

"Nope." Murasakibara replied casually. Mikoto nearly gave a sigh of relief at that- so Daiki hadn't been that thoughtless, after all. It would have been awkward, to say the least, if Momoi knew about her old attraction towards Kuroko. The whole reason she had backed off in the first place was because of Satsuki- her friendship with the girl had been more valuable than some guy... even if he was pretty cute.

"So it's true, then?" Himuro inquired, a hint of teasing in his voice as he placed his hands behind his head while he lay back on the bed. "Or are you still in denial about this, too?"

"Alright, alright!" Mikoto admitted exasperatedly, eager to get them to drop the topic. "The last crush I had was Tetsuya Kuroko. Can we move on now?"

"Not-girlfriend still likes Kuro-chin~" Atsushi taunted in a sing-song manner, a teasing smile crossing his features.

"I will ban you from your snacks during our study sessions." Mikoto threatened. That did it- Atsushi shut up immediately. Before Himuro could attempt to pursue the subject, however, the sound of a cellphone ringing interrupted him before he could even open his mouth. The ringtone sounded like a song from a hard rock band, and for a moment, Himuro thought it was Atsushi's phone... Until Mikoto suddenly reached into her pocket to retrieve the blaring device.

"Oh, I have to take this call. Excuse me." Mikoto stood up from her seat and exited the room, disregarding the vaguely disbelieving look she received from Himuro. "Mom? Yeah, I'm tutoring right now..."

Himuro gave a low scoff when the Shirato left the room, shaking his head. Really, to think that even her taste in music would throw him off... one would think that he would be used to these surprises. Ever the cryptic puzzle, that girl...

But he did have one question that kept nagging at him.

"Hey, Atsushi."

"Hm?" Murasakibara turned towards Himuro upon his call, silently retrieving a candy bar he'd hidden in his desk and munching on it while the Shirato was out.

"You weren't serious when you said that Shirato-chan still likes this 'Kuroko', were you?" Himuro asked.

"Not really." Murasakibara tilted his head. "Why?"

"No reason." Himuro responded vaguely... Why did he ask in the first place? Either way, he changed the topic without batting an eyelash, raising no suspicions whatsoever from Atsushi. "How good is he at basketball?"

"He's terrible at it by himself." Atsushi scoffed in response.

"'By himself'?" Now that was an interesting statement, Himuro mused. He straightened up a little as he sat up, his curiosity piqued. What Atsushi was saying brought a memory to the forefront of his mind- that one time when Shirato had confided her past with him. 'Save for one', she had said... was it Tetsuya Kuroko she had been referring to?

"He's not a normal player." Atsushi replied.

"How so?"

As Atsushi began to elaborate further on the phantom sixth man of the Generation of Miracles, Himuro paid close attention, admittedly impressed by what he was hearing. A player that wasn't like the rest; a unique ability that was practically unheard of... it was very intriguing. And to be able to be classified as one of the Miracles despite being unable to score on his own was a most impressive feat- prodigious, almost. But even amidst all this new information, one question still nagged at the back of Himuro's mind.

Why had he asked about Shirato's current interest in Kuroko, anyway?

* * *

"Ugh." Fukui grunted as he unceremoniously plopped himself down on one of the benches in the gym, draping his towel over his head as he leaned back and sighed. "These sessions are killer."

"At least our coordination and teamwork have improved." Okamura stated optimistically, pumping his fist in enthusiasm as he stood before the rest of his team. "Our defense is impeccable! The Interhigh is going to be a breeze!"

"You forget that we are to face the Generation of Miracles." Liu corrected, his tone bland as he joined Fukui on the bench.

"And the Uncrowned Kings." Himuro agreed.

"And lots of other tough opponents." Fukui concluded.

"I'm trying to motivate you guys!" Okamura retorted exasperatedly.

"It's not working." Murasakibara commented simply. Well, nothing would ever motivate him when it came to basketball, anyway- he just played it for the sake of doing so.

"Why can't you guys just cut your captain some slack?" Okamura despaired, his face contorting into a sulky expression. What would it take to get these guys to show a little respect to their team leader...

"Uhm, excuse me." A new, female voice rang out across the court, catching everyone's attentions. Hinata Matsuki was approaching the coach as she toted a large palstic bag in her hands- judging from the sports attire worn over her gymnastics leotard, she must have come here from her own club's practice session. "Sorry about the interruption, Coach Araki, but I have a delivery from Shirato-chan?"

"Go ahead." Araki nodded curtly in response, curious but not questioning anything. The captain of the gymnastics team thanked the coach politely, before casually making her way towards the members of the basketball team.

"Good afternoon, everyone." Hinata greeted courteously, though she inclined her head towards Okamura in a more friendly manner. "Kenichi-kun."

"O-oh. Hinata-chan." Okamura stuttered, before clearing his throat and addressing his classmate in a less uptight manner. "You said you have a delivery?"

"Yeah." Hinata replied, handing the bag she was carrying to Okamura, who accepted it inquiringly. By this time, some of the other first string members had approached to get a look at what was in the bag as well, and Hinata elaborated further. "Shirato-chan's a little busy with gymnastics today, so she asked me to pass this to you guys."

"These are bento boxes." Okamura observed as he looked inside the bag. Fukui- ever the Curious Connie- lifted out one of the aforementioned lunchboxes before and opened it up, peering into it curiously.

"Onigiri?" Himuro blinked in surprise, staring at the numerous rice balls lining the inside of the box.

"And plenty of them, at that." Liu noted- it looked like Mikoto had made extra to compensate for Murasakibara's enormous appetite, as well.

"Shirato-chan says she's sorry she can't make it for your extra practice, and she hopes this will make up for it." Hinata explained- the basketball team's extra practice sessions clashed with Mikoto's own schedule, thus she was unable to attend most of their practices. This was the first time she'd sent a delivery, let alone sent a messenger to deliver her apologies...

"Are you sure Shirato-chan really said all that?" Himuro asked skeptically. The bento was already surprising enough, an apology...?

"Well, not really. It was something more along the lines of this," Hinata admitted, before clearing her throat and imitating Mikoto's deeper, cooler tone. "'Having them slack off during practice because of undernourishment is almost as annoying as not having time to work on my routine.'"

"That sounds more appropriate." A small smirk ghosted Himuro's features before it faded just as quickly as it came. Mikoto wasn't one to openly admit any concern for the team- she still grumbled about being coerced into this duty, but it wasn't fooling him.

"So, Shirato voluntarily made these for us..." Liu mused as he chewed thoughtfully on one of the rice balls. That was... oddly initiative of her.

"They're pretty tasty, too." Murasakibara commented as he consumed his own onigiri in just a few gulps. Now that he thought about it, the taste of these rice balls were pretty familiar- not much different from the ones Shirato used to make for him and the others on his last team...

"In any case, I had best be going, myself." Hinata waved at the group of basketball players, and if Himuro's keen eyes saw correctly, there was hint of pink tinting her cheeks as she shyly turned to bid their captain goodbye personally. "I'll see you around, Kenichi-kun."

"Right. See you." Okamura responded shortly, his inexperience with dealing with the opposite gender making itself evident in his hesitant tone. His flustered state seemed to amuse Hinata, who giggled girlishly as she went on her way- much to Okamura's embarrassment.

"'Kenichi-kun'?" Fukui raised an eyebrow at his fellow upperclassman as he munched on an onigiri, his tone suggestive despite his otherwise deadpan expression.

"She's just a friend, is all." Okamura replied simply, averting his gaze as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Yeah, and she totally wasn't batting her eyelashes at you or anything." Fukui snorted, earning an exasperated glare from Okamura.

As Hinata made her way towards the exit, intending to head back to the gym, she was stopped when Coach Araki called out to her, gaining her attention.

"Matsuki, was it?" Araki asked, her expression one that Hinata was unable to read.

"Yes, sensei?" She responded politely, wondering what business the coach would want with her.

"You're Shirato's captain, is that correct?" When Matsuki nodded in confirmation, the coach continued. "Do you perhaps see Shirato leaving your club anytime soon?"

"Not at all." Hinata replied without any delay, her tone absolutely certain. "Shirato-chan may be attached to this club as well, but her loyalty does not change. So I'm afraid that officially, she still and always will be part of the gymnastics team."

"...I see." Masako shut her eyes briefly in understanding, before she glanced back at the young captain. "Thank you for your time then, Matsuki."

"Of course, sensei." Hinata bowed once again, before she gook her leave. Once she was gone, Coach Araki slowly turned her gaze towards her team once again, a thoughtful expression on her face as she watched them all partake in the snack Shirato had prepared for them. So, Mikoto would never leave her current place in the gymnastics team, even if she didn't hold any position. How would that work, Araki wondered...

"Do you think she takes orders for these things?"

"She does not run a business, Fukui."

"No, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't exploit our resources."

"That's just petty..."

The exchange between the members garnered a scoff from the coach under her breath, and she shook her head as a small, dry smile crossed her face. Her worries didn't matter- this did not change anything.

Mikoto didn't need an official position in a club to be part of the team- all she needed to have was a position in their hearts.

* * *

Himuro idly tapped a pencil on the desk as he read through the novel he was holding in his free hand, only pausing to turn a page in the book when necessary. He and Shirato had started to bring their own work to Atsushi's house to entertain themselves while the boy finished the exercises they gave to him, which normally took a few minutes. However, he did note that these minutes were gradually getting shorter and shorter- slowly, but surely...

"I'm done."

Speak of the devil.

"That was fast." Himuro commented as he shut his novel briefly, moving to check Atsushi's work. Mikoto was currently working on an assignment and was occupying Atsushi's bed as she required space for her work, leaving Himuro at the desk to oversee Murasakibara's progress for the most part.

"You've gotten almost everything correct." Himuro observed in mild surprise as he finished marking Atsushi's work. "Have you been studying?"

"Sort of." Murasakibara shrugged, pulling out a bag of jelly beans as he proceeded to eat his 'reward' for completing his work- as per one of the terms and conditions that had been applied to their weekly sessions. "Not-girlfriend gave me a book to read."

"What kind of book?" Himuro asked curiously. He wondered what kind of book Mikoto could possibly have gotten Atsushi to read- that boy wasn't exactly a fan of the literary arts. Was it a classic? A poetry book? Modern literature?

"This one." Murasakibara retrieved a thick book from his bag, which was hanging on the back of the chair he sat in. Intrigued, Himuro leaned closer to get a closer look at the title- it was...

"A cookbook?" He deadpanned, his expression falling.

"It's interesting." Atsushi shrugged. Well, he should have guessed. Turning to face his subordinate, Tatsuya raised a quizzical brow at the Shirato, who simply looked up from her work as she returned his deadpan look.

"It worked, didn't it?" She asked rhetorically.

He could not deny that.

* * *

"Well, that's the last of our study sessions, Murasakibara-kun." Mikoto concluded as she and Himuro stood outside Murasakibara's front door, preparing to head back home after their lesson. "Good luck for your English test next week- do your best, alright?"

"Got it." Atsushi nodded, as passively lethargic as ever.

"We'll see you around then, Atsushi." Himuro saluted as he and Mikoto turned around to begin their walk to the train station, with Mikoto tossing a wave over her shoulder, as well.

"Bye, Muro-chin. Shira-chin." Atsushi called back in response, his tone unwavering.

"Bye- wait, what?" Mikoto did a double take when she realized what Atsushi had just called her, but when she spun around to face the door again, it was already shut. Had it been just her imagination, or had Atsushi really just...

"I guess this means he likes you now." Himuro commented off-handedly. Nope, wasn't her imagination, then.

"That's a disturbing thought." Mikoto shuddered as they continued their walk again. Well, at least he wasn't calling her 'Not-girlfriend' anymore...

"You know what I mean." Himuro shook his head, prompting Mikoto to raise a curious eyebrow.

"Do elaborate."

"You've stopped being so offhand towards him, so he's doing the same." Himuro replied easily. That earned a surprised look from Mikoto, and Himuro simply met her gaze evenly. "Atsushi isn't the brightest individual, but he does notice things, Shirato-chan."

"...I was sort of cold, wasn't I?" Mikoto muttered, kicking a loose rock on the pavement as she walked. Loathe as she was to admit it, she knew Himuro was right.

"Quite." Himuro hummed in reply.

"Doesn't make me much better than him, huh?"

"Not at all."

"... I didn't like him because he reminded me too much of Daiki." Mikoto admitted quietly after a moment of silence, her expression more solemn than before. Even though Himuro didn't respond to that, Mikoto knew he was paying attention. "But after all the time I've spent with him, I realized... What he's like on the court doesn't define who he is as a person." Here, Mikoto gave a short laugh as something crossed her mind, mildly surprising Himuro as she continued in a less serious manner. "Well, not entirely. He's still a pompous arse who needs to be taught a lesson or two."

"That assessment was fair enough." Himuro chuckled pleasantly. "And what of the others?"

"Fine. All of you are alright." Mikoto scoffed, not needing Himuro to elaborate on who the 'others' were- it was obvious he was talking about the rest of his teammates. However, a light smirk crossed her face as she added on to that statement. "But if Fukui-senpai gets smart-alecky with me, expect the claws to come out."

"I wouldn't worry about that. You're as tame as a house cat." Himuro responded lightly. That wiped the smirk off her face.

"Don't make me crush you."

"You stole that from Atsushi."

"So what if I did?"

"You're too short to be intimidating and dangerous... at least, when you're not falling on people. You're pretty heavy."

"Shut up."

Himuro just chuckled again- a deep, pleasant sound that spurred Mikoto into joining him as well. Honestly, this guy really knew how to turn things to his favour, even against her will sometimes...

Well, she supposed she could live with it.

* * *

The loud sound of rain splattering onto the ground and roof of Yosen High was the first thing that greeted Himuro's ears when he stepped out of school that evening, and the boy emitted a dreary sigh. He'd stayed behind today to finish up some schoolwork in the library, but getting caught by the rain was the last thing he'd expected. The forecast hadn't said anything about rain today, so he hadn't brought his umbrella with him, either. Talk about irony- Himuro scoffed at his terrible luck, holding out a palm to catch some of the raindrops, wondering just how long he'd be stuck here, waiting for the rain to lighten up. It was still pretty heavy- he'd have to wait for quite a while...

"Himuro-kun?"

A voice broke Himuro out of his train of thought, and he turned around to face its owner, knowing full well who that voice belonged to. Himuro just offered a polite half-smile at the brunette who stood before him, greeting her politely. "Ah, Shirato-chan. Practice over for you?"

"Yes. We just finished." Mikoto replied, unhooking her bagpack from over one shoulder as she dug around in it. "Are you stuck here because of the downpour?"

"Yeah. Don't know how long it'll last." Himuro replied, shooting a glance at the grey sky once more. How meddlesome...

"I don't mind sharing my umbrella." Mikoto suddenly announced, catching his attention once again.

"Hm?" Himuro started upon her statement, and he returned his silvery gaze to the Shirato, who was shaking out the collapsible umbrella that she had kept in her bag.

"My umbrella is rather big." She continued, opening up the umbrella for emphasis. "It should be enough for the two of us."

"Are you sure?" Himuro asked, albeit surprised that she would offer him this. He knew the Shirato wasn't one for close contact, and though the umbrella was pretty wide, they would still have to stand pretty close to stay under its shade.

"It's better than nothing." Mikoto shrugged nonchalantly.

"You do realize we have to stand beneath the same umbrella."

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that, Himuro-kun." Mikoto sighed, shooting a vaguely annoyed glance at Tatsuya- much to his bemusement. He knew she caught what he was trying to say, and by not taking back her offer anyway, she had inadverdently given him permission to cross the usual physical boundaries of her comfort zone. He appreciated it, to say the least.

"Alright. But at least let me help with holding the umbrella." Himuro responded, taking hold of the umbrella before Mikoto could protest. The girl seemed startled at his sudden move, but just sighed again when she realized that it would make no difference if she tried to talk him out of it, anyway.

"Fair enough." She complied reluctantly. Himuro seemed satisfied with that and made to head out into the rain, but before they could even take three steps another voice interrupted them.

"Shirato. Himuro." Turning around upon being called, the two teens saw Liu just exiting the school building, his expression passive as he put forth his request. "Would you mind sparing some room for me beneath the shade as well?"

"Liu?" Himuro inquired curiously. "What happened to your own umbrella?"

"It appears that circumstances have rendered it dysfunctional." The Chinese boy replied, the mildly annoyed look on his face stating that he was rather irked about these 'circumstances'. However he simply regained his usual, serious expression as he asked again. "May I share yours as we venture to the train station?"

"Would you mind, Shirato-chan?" Himuro asked, wondering if the owner of the umbrella would mind the company of another. She might not be too comfortable with another person standing so close to her within the small area of shade that the umbrella provided...

And for some inexplicable reason, he found himself hoping that she would turn Liu down. But of course, she was too polite for that.

"No, it's fine." Mikoto replied. Three people were alright, she supposed, and she was pretty well acquainted with Liu to not be quite so bothered with his presence, anyway. No big deal.

"I must thank you for your generosity." Liu thanked graciously as he joined the two under the umbrella. Given how tall he was, he had to bend over slightly to get under the shade, and Himuro had the unfortunate luck of having to raise his arm higher than usual to compensate for Liu's height. Thankfully, Liu noticed the mild struggle, and took the umbrella in Himuro's stead. This was alright...

"Yo, Himuro! Shirato!" Right as they were about to leave again, another person stopped them before they could do so. This time, Okamura and Fukui were approaching the trio, a pleading look on the former's face. "Mind if we join in?"

"Uhm... I don't know..." Mikoto hesitated, glancing at her umbrella. Five people would be pushing it...

"Please? We're sort of desperate." Okamura asked politely, his tone imploring. "I have plans with my family tonight, and we're not sure how long this rain is going to last."

"What's Fukui-senpai's excuse?" Mikoto asked, raising a brow at the deadpan teen.

"I just want to get home fast so I can sleep." He replied simply. Well, she had to credit his honesty.

"Drop dead." Mikoto retorted monotonously.

"That's mean."

"You're hardly offended."

"I know."

"Just get in before I change my mind." Mikoto sighed exasperatedly, raising a hand to her temple as she rubbed at it again. Really, she was too nice for her own good sometimes...

"Thanks, Shirato-san. We owe you one." Okamura thanked sincerely, lifting Mikoto's spirits somewhat. At least one of the two seniors were nice. Just when Mikoto thought that was the last of the people she would have to take beneath her umbrella's abode, however...

"Hey, Muro-chin. Shira-chin."

Three guesses who it was. Murasakibara suddenly emerged from the school building, toting a bag of goodies with him- where he had acquired those from, Mikoto had no idea. He then shot the two teens a pout as he put forth his obvious request.

"Please?" Murasakibara drawled pleadingly. He didn't need to elaborate what he meant.

Oh for the love of- this was insane. And Mikoto was even more insane for saying yes.

Soon, the rain was invaded by a group of six teens huddling under one umbrella- most of whom were giant-sized males who were way too big for their own good. As if that wasn't bad enough for Mikoto's gradually straining peace of mind, they started fighting over the umbrella.

"Let me hold the thing- I'm getting wet!"

"Shouldn't someone closer to the middle do that, instead?"

"Why do you not allow Fukui to handle it, then?"

"Shortest on the team, remember?"

"Why did I have to let you guys in here..."

"Sorry about this, Shirato-chan."

"It's my own fault anyway..."

"In that case, shouldn't Murasakibara hold it?"

"My snacks will get wet."

"Hand them over to Himuro or something, then!"

"Don't wanna..."

"Just give the umbrella here!"

"No, pass it here!"

"I think it would be best if I were to hold it."

"Um, guys, I don't think it's a good idea to-"

SNAP!

The loud sound of the umbrella handle snapping cut off all bickering as the top of the umbrella- which was providing them their shade- suddenly fell onto the road, having lost the base upon which it sat. The six teens just stared at the broken handle they were all gripping, taking a moment to comprehend what their little tiff had resulted in. By the time their minds finally processed that they were all stuck in the middle of the rain without any shade whatsoever now, all of the basketball team members slowly turned towards Mikoto, who was still staring at the broken handle in disbelief as the rain seeped into her uniform and hair. When she finally shifted her gaze to the boys, however, they all felt a chill run down their spines. Despite her eerily blank expression and her appearance that made her look like a drowned puppy, there was a barely restrained rage burning in those sapphire eyes- enough to make all of them want to run and hide from her like a bomb that was about to explode.

Not that it was too far off the mark.

"...I hate all of you." Mikoto growled. If there was one thing she was absolutely sure of now, it was that these basketball freaks were insane.

And she had to be dragged into this insanity. Life sucked.

* * *

**AN: This early update (well, earlier than I planned, anyway) goes out to RomanticKissez. Happy belated birthday, yo! Hope this serves you well for entertainment purposes, haha! On a side note, I only had Mikoto crushing on Kuroko just to link it to how Himuro heard about him Murasakibara like he mentioned at the streetball game... and also to embarrass her further. Still not sorry. Shout out to my lovely beta reader as well for putting up with all my crap, haha! (EDIT: I called Murasakibara 'chibi' in this chapter because it apparently means 'runt' in Japanese. Who knew, right?)  
Also, I noticed that this fic has been added to a community (All KnB OC Fics) on FF! To whoever it was that added or suggested for this fic to be added to that community, I am most honoured, and I am very grateful! Thank you very much! 8D**

**Many thanks to RomanticKissez, PhoenixRage92, Forgotten Cross, kissay, Hind-x, Tsuna De Bongola Decimo, Multitules, Csndiexncn **(In response to your review: I'm glad you like it so far! Will do my best to keep it up! ;D),** chibianimefan26, DOMOfan101, queen6404, Nadeshiko291210, Multitules, Eurwen de Vrill, Land on the stars, Kohanita, aniqa1234, Smilingmona, S. Rune, GeniusPineapple and yuuyas for all your support! Ya'll are awesome ;D**


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